Chetirye Vyeter
by Yurii Savinov
Summary: An all girls Russian team the Four Winds has appeared to take on the BBoys, and it's going to be one hell of a showdown. Full Summary inside. TalaOC KaiOC BryanOCGarland SpencerOC IanOC
1. Compass Rose

**Four Winds: Chapter One**

**_Compass Rose _**

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**Yurii:** _My apologies if my Russian and Finnish are off. I'm still learning, and translations are HARD. _

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**_Summary:_**_  
_The Blitzkrieg Boys are finally rid of Boris and Voltaire for good, and now that they can settle down again in Russia, everything seems to be normal… at least, until they run into the new Russian team: an all-girls team, the Four Winds. They're all from different parts of Europe, and they're _good._ Very good. Not about to be replaced, the result is one hell of a showdown where it's boys versus girls. Here's one other odd little tidbit; the team captain's bit beast appears to be Dranzer's long lost mate…

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Winter fell heavily on Russia, just as it did every year. Everyone knew that this meant a world of white that seemed to last an eternity, nearly –20 degree weather and the constant internal drive that told them to keep walking. There was something hypnotic and universal about it; those who lay down died. The World Beyblading Tournament was over for now, until the next winter where it would be held in Russia's neighbor, Siberia. Standing in the four winds, one on each side of the country, four of one brethren watched the night sky as aurora borealis gave a stunning light show up in the ionosphere.

In the south in Vladivostok, frigid blue eyes watched, one from behind locks of auburn. The aura surrounding the owner of the blue eyes took the form of a strong, wary griffin.

In the west in Moscow, bottle green eyes saw the same show as the others, jet-black hair blowing over them. The aura of a stallion stood proudly around its master.

In the east in Novosibirsk, silvery-gray eyes looked to the stars around locks of honey brown with the same icy chill as the night air. The aura of a ram stood silently and proudly behind the one it served.

In the north in Khatanga, fiery crimson-gold eyes looked through locks of dark brown not at the display of lights, but up at the moon, the same one that hung over all four of them. This one's aura was that of the legendary phoenix.

On all sides of Russia, they knew things were going to be different when they saw one another again with the ascent of the sun that would rise in the east and set in the west, a cycle like the compass rose they represented.

* * *

"Home at last."

"If you could call it that. We have two more planes before we get to St. Petersburg."

Tala shrugged off Bryan's comment as the team headed towards Gate 14. They were currently in Vladivostok, the absolute farthest Russian city away from their destination. They would be meeting up with Ian in Novosibirsk, and from there it would be an uninterrupted flight home.

At the back of the line, Kai remained silent as he followed his teammates down the hall, paying no mind at all to the hordes of fans being held off by the security guards –who they were all grateful for- that Mr. Dickenson hired. Once again, he was deep in his thoughts. Dranzer wasn't really in the mood for talking via their 'mental chat room', which left him to ponder over the rumor that was spreading around Russia faster than the black plague.

According to aforementioned rumor, there was another team that would represent Russia in the tournament next year. They were called _Tsyetirye_ _Vyetra_, or Four Winds. Nobody even knew the what the bladers' names were, they were just known by their names _Zapad_ (West), _Vostotsniy_ (East), _Ugniy_ (South), and the team captain _Syevrniy_ (North), who was supposed to be an extremely skilled and powerful young blader with a bit beast of fire and lightning.

* * *

"You _what?_"

The boys' flight was being delayed because of the snow outside, giving Tala the idea to call up their short teammate and mess with his head a little before meeting him in Novosibirsk.

"_You heard me right, Red. But to my credit, I doubt it that you would have done much better._"

"I still refuse to believe that you lost to a girl."

"_Hey! Let's see you try and beat her when you get your butt over here! This gal is one crazy-ass blader._"

Tala chuckled to himself, practically seeing the pissed-off look on the purple-haired teen's face.

"Whatever. Mind giving us the details on your slayer?" He teased.

"_She's some nutty Slavic chick, Danica Arsenyev. She's got a water dragon called Kazic, and it's one nasty piece of work. Especially its Sapphire Riptide. I think she's supposed to be joining the Majestics._"

"Interesting, you lost to the Yugoslavian champ. Hey, I've been hearing rumors here and there about a new Russian team, _Tsyetirye Vyetra_, Four Winds. Any ideas what all this is about? We could use some competition to keep us up to snuff until the next tournament."

_"Just that their team captain goes by the name Syevrniy, North. He/she also has his/her nickname tattooed on their right arm in Russian. He/she is supposed to be one hell of a blader. That's all I got._"

"Ah, well, thanks anyway. Our flight's getting ready to start boarding. Until then, _do svedanya._" **(_Do svedanya- Good Bye)_**

"_Do svedanya._"

* * *

Seating arrangements weren't exactly what the boys had expected, but they weren't complaining, seeing that none of the surrounding passengers mobbed them on a quest to get an autograph. Kai and Bryan had been put together with the lavender-eyed boy at the window seat, Spencer was across the aisle from them and sitting next to a sleeping old man that vaguely resembled Mr. Dickenson, and Tala was in front of Spencer with an empty window seat next to him. The last passenger to get on the plane was a teenaged girl, about his age. She slid past him and sat in the seat by the window with such grace, it seemed like she glided over the floor. He studied her in fascination.  
----  
She was dressed a little strangely; she had on a brown-roan long-sleeved ribbed shirt with a half-turtleneck and a fake corset that started at the top of her chest and ended at the end of the shirt. Over that was a very short vest, dark brown in color with a collar that stuck up and a few straps with gold buckles for decoration on the chest area. The sleeves were very loose and a bit long, contrasting with the almost skintight torso.

Below that, she had on a pair of very loose steel blue cargo jeans that were a little too big for her. A dark brown belt with a rust-gold colored buckle held her jeans up.

Her gloves were dark charcoal gray, fingerless, and had a brown strap around the wrist that could be tightened via the rust-gold buckle similar to her belt. There was a navy bandana tucked into her back pocket so that most of it stuck out, and resting in her lap was a hooded dark brown parka with a camel-brown stripe across the chest and arms. She had on a pair of riveted laced-up black combats that reached to just below her knees with the ends of her pants tucked into them.

She was just a little shorter than he was, around 5'7" without the boots on, give or take an inch. Since her clothing was rather form fitting, he could see that she had a rather well muscled, sleek build like that of a gymnast.

Her hair was a fiery red-auburn color that hung down about a half-foot shy of her slim waist, bound in the middle by an ice-blue ribbon with a kind of side sweep of her bangs hiding her left eye a bit. She was fair-skinned, looking even paler in contrast with her hair and blue eyes that were the color of frozen turquoise.

It was about then that he noticed a launcher and beyblade holster clipped onto her belt. The beyblade was a krylon blue color with a bronze attack ring, the launcher being entirely charcoal gray excluding the light gray ripcord and grips. Painted in silver on the top layer of her beyblade were the letters GD ZS, and underneath it in much smaller print were the words _Gundula ZS_. The bit chip bore the picture of a griffin, claws bared and beak open in a silent battle cry.  
-----  
**A beyblader, and a serious one at that. **

_How can you tell?_

**The aura she's giving off is rather powerful and vigilant.**

"It's rude to stare."

Tala looked up from his trance talking to Wolborg back up to the girl's face. She hadn't even opened her eyes, but she'd caught him nonetheless.

**Excellent senses as well. Impressive. **

"Sorry. I couldn't help but notice your beyblade."

"Hm. Most people can't."

Though the response was monotonous, he could sense the sarcasm and disbelief laced into her words.

"I suppose it would be redundant to introduce myself."

"I suppose it would."

_Not much of a talker. Reminds me of Kai._

There was a short, somewhat awkward pause.

"I assume you're headed back to St. Petersburg, am I correct?"

"Stopping to pick up a teammate in Novosibirsk, but yes. How did you guess?"

"Anyone who has heard of the Blitzkrieg Boys knows that you spend the majority of the off-season there. I'll be meeting a couple of friends as well."

Another pause.

"Pardon my saying so, but I still don't know your name."

"Drayea, Drayea Rothstein."

_She's German._

"Rothstein… that sounds familiar."

"I get that a lot."

* * *

The conversation went on for a good 30 minutes with short one-liners, mostly Tala asking questions and Drayea patiently answering them. It was almost surprising to him that she hadn't gotten annoyed, or at least was very good at not showing it.

"Say, have you heard the rumors about the so-called Four Winds team?"

Drayea tensed slightly at the last three words.

"Only a few. Their captain is supposed to be a real powerhouse."

"Any idea who they are?"

"_Nein_, not really. I've heard that at least two of them are girls."

Tala cocked an eyebrow.

**That was an unexpected twist. **

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* * *

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_Goddamn it, Gundula! Stop putting words in my mouth!_

Inside Drayea's head, the griffin chuckled good-naturedly.

**Aw, you never let me have any fun.**

_Keep it up, and I won't let you out of your bit chip next battle._

Silence.

_Good call._

"Eh, those are just rumors. For all we know, they might not even be a real team."

The wolf blader sitting next to her put on a thoughtful look, giving her a moment to study him.

Unlike most of his other teammates –save for Bryan-, he was a lot paler in comparison to (for example) Kai. His eyes were blue like her own, but at the same time incredibly different; they were an icy sapphire color, but they didn't hold the same sub-zero barrier that hers did. His hair was a little more vibrant than hers, more of a red than auburn.

_Heh… he's clueless. _

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* * *

_

The flight ended within a few hours, and much to the boys' disgruntlement –and impatience-, a blizzard was going to stall them a good four hours.

"Flight 467 arriving at Gate 14 from Chita."

From where he was watching, Tala could see as Drayea looked up towards the gate. She raised one arm in the air, and a blonde teenager noticed and mock-saluted back with a wink.

"Yo, Red, earth to Tala."

Said redhead glared at Ian, who was standing 5 feet away with a smirk on his face. However, his mood brightened when he saw the previously mentioned Yugoslavian blader Danica Arsenyev.

_Ammunition._ He thought with a smirk.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Guys, the crazy dragon who beat me. Dani, my idiot teammates."

_Oh, so now he has a nickname for her? I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of this one._

The girl smirked as if reading his thoughts. She had dirty-blonde hair that was pulled in a ponytail that went just past her shoulders, a few strands falling in her face over her soft blue eyes. They were nowhere near as intense as Drayea's were; the German girl's eyes would remain in his memory for a long time.

She was wearing a goldenrod long-sleeved shirt with a black short-sleeved over shirt that had a thick stripe of the same color as the first shirt across her chest. Tied around her waist was a toffee-brown parka that appeared much too large for her.

As for her pants, they were steel blue parachute pants above the knees, and below that they were the color of faded denim. Her boots looked very similar to Bryan's, only lacking the armored plate on the front.

Her gloves were very similar to Tala's in the sense that there seemed to be thin, armored plates on every non-jointed area covering the top of her hand. There was a launcher and blade holster held by a brown belt that was hanging loosely around her hips. Unlike the other two, her blade was electric gold and black. A winged serpent with a fin edging its tail and back adorned the bit chip; Kazic.

"Yo." She greeted them, holding up a hand as a kind of hello.

Having already figured out who she was, Tala turned his attention back to Drayea's so-called friend.

The girl was noticeably shorter than Drayea was (some 3 or 4 inches), and her hair was a rich honey-gold color. Her eyes, unlike the other girl's, were a silvery-gray shade. Her hairstyle was swept up into a messy bun except for two straight locks of hair, one on either side of her face.

She was dressed in a midnight-blue one-strap shirt, and on the side that had no straps; there was a long sleeve strapped to her upper arm like an arm-warmer. The strap itself was just like a dark brown belt with a gold buckle.

Her pants were made of thick black leather and were tucked into the tops of her shin-height dark russet boots, the rivets painted gold. As for her gloves, they were fingerless, dark brown and reached up to just below the junction where her torso and arm met where they were topped by a brown strap and gold buckle. A navy blue fabric belt was tied around her hips with the knot off to her right side, and there was a black choker with a gold lightning bolt charm around her neck.

Slung over her shoulder was a hooded navy blue and cobalt parka that had black lining on the sleeves, bottom and hood. Unlike her friend, this one had her blade strapped to her arm (the one without the sleeve on it) in a pouch similar to Tyson's and her launcher probably in her pocket.

"_Riikka, Se has jotavastoin_." **(1)**

"_Että se has. Kuinka hankkia te?_" **(2)**

"_Kummuta, kiittää te. Hankkia te kuulla jokin polveutua toiset?_"** (3)**

"_Ei Nyt kuluva on ei parhaiten kohta jotta juoruta jokseenkin se. Me jälkisäädös hiippakunta toiset aikaisin_." **(4)**

It took him a minute to register that they were speaking in Finnish, one of the few languages he didn't know.

**The other girl, Riikka, is the Finn. Her bit beast and aura aren't quite as potent as Drayea's, though they are strong.**

_Can you tell which bit beast it is?_

Wolborg was silent a minute or two.

**I'm pretty sure it's Ukko. I can't be sure on the element.**

_Hm…_

The two girls took a row of seats not far off from theirs as the wind and snow picked up outside. A chorus of groans came from Ian, Danica and Bryan.

_We're gonna be here a while… _

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---**_4 HOURS LATER_**---

The blizzard outside was still raging, and the lights had to be shut off to keep the heater running without blowing a fuse. It was quiet except for the howling winds outside, but it was nice. Over a few benches, Drayea and Riikka were taking up 4 seats sitting back-to-back (sitting in one chair, legs hanging over onto another) with the Finn asleep and the German listening to her iPod, their duffels piled right next to them. Both had put their parkas on to keep from freezing. The only people who appeared to be awake were Drayea, him and Kai. Much to his amusement, Ian and Danica had fallen asleep leaning on one another. The Slavic girl was muttering something in her sleep, something about '_killing that womanizer Enrique_'. He almost felt bad for the blonde Italian... almost.

**Watch out for the Majestics this tournament, she and Kazic are a powerful team.**

_I'll keep that in mind._

Meanwhile, Kai was conversing with Dranzer. She seemed to be worried about something concerning the girl Tala had sat next to on the plane.

**Something doesn't feel quite right… that blue-eyed girl's bit beast is giving off a powerful aura, and it has a connection to some other bit beast… it's like nothing I've ever felt before, that kind of raw power.**

_Do you think it could be Black Dranzer?_

**Unlikely. It's nowhere near dark enough to be him. Still, it feels unusually familiar, but I don't know where from.**

_Odd. Considering how long you've been around, you should remember a lot._

**Are you calling me _old_?**

Kai smirked inwardly. That was Dranzer's way of lightening the mood; finding a way to make something he said sound either dumb and sarcastic or just plain insulting.

"Flight 238 for St. Petersburg now boarding."

* * *

"Okay, _now_ I can say it; home at last."

The jet was unloading the passengers, and it was then that Tala noted the advantage of arriving at 3 in the morning. NO PAPARAZZI. ("Yes…")

The German and Finnish bladers had met up with their so-called 'friends', both of whom seemed to attract both Spencer's and Kai's attention.

The taller of the two, whom he could tell was Japanese, had shoulder-length black hair (half of which was pulled into a bun) and had blazing emerald eyes.

She was dressed in a much more feminine way; her shirt was a royal red color, long sleeved with an oriental-style color lined in gold, same as the sleeves and hem. Gold _sakura_ blossoms were skillfully embroidered into the front and a rearing, wild stallion took up her back in gold and black thread. In the front and back, two ends like a loincloth hung down to just below her knees with slits up to the bottom of her chest, and under that was a long black skintight silk shirt.

Her pants were thick black silk, and tied loosely around her hips was a belt of the same material and color, the knot and two ends hanging in the front. Her shoes were form-fitting brown boots that reached up to her knees with the ends of her pants tucked loosely into them.

She had a dark crimson parka in her hands, where instead of gloves, there was athletic tape wrapped around her hands like fingerless gloves. Her launcher and blade were strapped to her right thigh by a garter of crimson and gold. The launcher itself was red with goldenrod-yellow grips, and the blade was electric gold and midnight blue.

------  
The other girl, whom he overheard being called the team captain, was a little more interesting and complex; that was what really got Kai's attention.

Unlike the others, she had long, braided dark brown hair hanging behind her around waist-length. On top, it was rather messy with spiky bangs, one hanging in her face and the other two (one on each side) framing the sides of her face. Her eyes were what really got their attention; they were a rare, brilliantly fiery crimson-gold color.

From what her clothes allowed, he could see that she had a slender neck and feminine shoulders, but fairly well built. Her shirt was a bit complex; it was a strapless charcoal-gray shirt with one black buckle serving as the top of the shirt, held tight by a silver buckle. There were 2 more, smaller ones around her waist, the shirt stopping at a point just above her belt and exposing some skin. Again, she was fairly muscular, but toned down to show a sleek, feminine body. Two thin black straps rested over her shoulders, and around each arm was a black strap with a silver buckle just like the ones on her shirt. They each held in place a very loose charcoal-gray long sleeve that hung down a bit on the outside at the top.

As for her belt, it looked slightly like she had a trench coat tucked into it and hanging down to her ankles. In the front, a dark gray loincloth style piece of fabric hung down to the middle of her shins. Her pants were loose, black cargoes that were tucked into the tops of her shin-high charcoal armored, steel-toed boots with a rectangular metal plate held to the front by 3 black straps.

On her hands was a pair of black fingerless gloves with a rectangular metal plate on the backs of her hands, and if he had to guess her height, it would be around 5'6"-5'8" or so. Tied around her neck was a black scarf, tied in the back with both ends reaching down to the backs of her knees.

In her hand was a black trench coat-slash-parka with a high collar, and her launcher and blade were hanging down from her belt. The holster itself was brown leather, and the launcher was black with gray grips. Much to his surprise, he realized she had _two_ blades. The one with the bit chip showing was black and silver, the bit chip bearing a majestic four-winged phoenix. The one behind it was black, crimson and bronze.

**The aura coming off of that one is incredible, I've never felt anything like that before, it's amazing.**

Without even a word, the four headed off on their way. But before they left, the fiery-eyed girl shot them a wary look before she walked out of sight. As she rounded the corner, a tattoo on her left upper arm came into view: Северный, _Syevrniy_... North Wind. They stood there a moment in silence before Ian spoke up.

"Call me crazy, but I think that was the _Four Winds._"

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**(1)** Riikka, it has been a while.

**(2)** That it has. How have you been?

**(3)** Well, thank you. Have you heard from the others?

**(4)** No. This is not the best place to talk about it. We will see the others soon.

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**Yurii:** _How was that? Damn, first chapters are hard to do… Review!  
Oh, and just for the record, **it fucking took me forever to look up all those names; I try to take the time to get the culture and history right, SO NO WHINING!**_


	2. Thoughts

**Four Winds- Chapter Two**

**_Thoughts_**

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**Yurii: _Okay, here's an interesting twist… and it's only chapter 2! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! –cough- okay, that's enough… Oh, and just for the record, TRANSLATING GERMAN IS FUCKING HARD!_ _A lot harder than Russian and Finnish… _**

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"_You heard right blading fans, the mysterious Russian team the Four Winds has been spotted! We were unable to get footage of the all-female team after the East Wind blader _Vostotsniy_ used her bit beast to cover-_"

A frustrated, jet-lagged Ian punched the OFF button on the remote, the picture collapsing back into the screen. Danica didn't even look up from the origami crane she was absorbed in folding. The others, save for Bryan, had all headed off to bed. As for himself, his teammate and the Slavic dragon, they were trying to find ways to amuse themselves.

Danica had been happily occupied folding origami animals for nearly two hours now, and a large pile of cranes, dogs, dragons and foxes were starting to mount up in every color and pattern imaginable; where she got so much origami paper was a mystery to him.

He'd been channel surfing and had found nothing interesting even after going through each station at least three times. Everything seemed to be about that Four Winds team. Wyborg was asleep, giving him no one to talk to.

As for Bryan, he'd been staring out the window at the quietly falling snow. Something about the Finnish girl had really gotten his attention; whether it was her bit beast or her aura, he couldn't tell. According to Falborg, her bit beast was called Ukko. The species and element of the bit beast escaped her. (**Yes, I'm making Falborg a girl- same as Dranzer. You may gasp in horror now**.)

**Not quite as strong as Gundula, but still not a bit beast to be taken lightly.**

Those had been her exact words, and he couldn't help but wonder what they'd be up against. By the sound of it, they'd be fair competition. At least that meant they wouldn't be getting bored any time too soon.

* * *

Despite jet lag and overall exhaustion, a certain redheaded team captain was still awake in his room. He knew he'd seen that Drayea girl somewhere before, but it was impossible to tell for sure. All the warnings he'd heard from Wolborg about her and her bit beast were running through his head like a broken record.

**_Gundula is very temperamental, watch out for her._**

**_I've dealt with her once before; Gundula's Tempest Scythe is one nasty piece of work. _**

**_That girl is giving off a powerful aura; keep an eye on her._**

Thanks to listening to Ian's channel surfing through the door (stupid idiot didn't bother to turn down the damn volume), it was easy to figure out that she (Drayea) was this so-called _Zapad_, the West Wind blader. Wolborg had managed to pry the names of the other girls' bit beasts as well; Ukko was confirmed as a ram, as were the others; a horse bit beast called Raiuma, the Japanese girl's horse bit beast, and the team captain's impressive phoenix, Arseni.

**It has been a while since I last saw Gundula… I wonder what she's been doing…** Wolborg mused.

Tala smirked at his bit beast deviously.

_Why, is she your girlfriend or something?_

Wolborg wasn't amused.

**_No_****, she's more rather an old rival. I'll give her this much, she can put up one hell of a fight for a girl.**

While the two wolves continued their verbal jousting, the topic of their conversation was restless as well… as were her comrades.

* * *

Fiery crimson-gold eyes glared up at the ceiling. She'd long since lost interest in counting the dots or trying to make shapes of them. Sleeping in the lobby of the practically abandoned BBA HQ wasn't exactly her first pick, but at least it was better than what she was used to. Nonetheless, it was making it even harder to sleep.

_Damn my insomnia._

"Hey, Taylia, are you still awake?"

The hawk-eyed team captain turned to the voice from her spot lying on the couch. Riikka stared back at her, eyes questioning. How a Finn was born with gray eyes was beyond her. The Russian shot her teammate a bored glare.

"No, this is my alternate personality speaking. Leave a message and Taylia will get back to you as soon as she is in her right mind."

"Har, har, you're hilarious, Strelnikov." The Finn replied mordantly. "I was going to ask you what you're thinking about, but now I don't think I really want to know."

Taylia sighed and shut her eyes. She could practically _hear_ Riikka's expression soften.

"Oh… that again…"

For some reason for the past month or so, the team captain had been plagued by unnerving and often very disturbing nightmares, most of which made her wake up screaming as if she were being murdered. Drayea knew exactly what it was, but as she so finely put it, she was sworn to secrecy.

To Taylia, they weren't nightmares; they were flashbacks of all the things she didn't want to remember. The kinds of things that left the scars on her mind and body. Drayea was doing what she could to support her teammate, but even her best efforts weren't helping much. What's more, ever since they encountered the Blitzkrieg Boys yesterday and she'd stared into the eyes of the crimson-eyed phoenix Kai, Dranzer and Arseni had been appearing in these dreams as well. Whenever it wasn't a nightmare, it was two phoenixes in their fire forms engaged in an aerial dance over a flaming nest of dogwood. It was starting to confuse her.

Looking over to where the Ram had just been, she wasn't surprised to find her already gone, likely to stalk the empty hallways in search of _Vostotsniy_, also known as Mitsu Utariyma. The Japanese blader was the best to talk to in times of crisis (or boredom- either/or) for the fact that she was a good listener and counselor.

Now fully awake, the phoenix wielder got up and headed down the dark stairwells leading to the building's cellar. Drayea had only made one request for their lodging, and that was that she had a grand piano to play. It was how she relieved stress, and Taylia would sometimes join in singing even though said German was a lot better. Drayea had a gift, no doubt; she could hear a song that didn't even include a piano anywhere in it, and she could play it on the keyboard without a single flaw.

As she descended lower, the slow, melodic tune of an all-too familiar song floated over the area. Drayea only played this song when she was especially down.

_"All around me are familiar faces  
Worn out places  
Worn out faces  
Bright and early for the daily races_

_Going no where  
Going no where" _

Drayea looked up, slightly surprised to see Taylia who was now leaned against the piano, but continued playing anyway, singing along with her team captain though not intending to be heard.

_"Their tears are filling up their glasses  
No expression  
No expression  
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow  
No tomorrow  
No tomorrow  
And I find it kind of funny  
I find it kind of sad  
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had  
I find it hard to tell you  
I find it hard to take  
When people run in circles it's a very, very  
Mad world  
Mad world  
Children waiting for the day they feel good  
Happy birthday  
Happy birthday  
Made to feel the way that every child should  
Sit and listen  
Sit and listen  
Went to school and I was very nervous  
No one knew me  
No one knew me  
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson  
Look right through me  
Look right through me  
And I find it kind of funny  
I find it kind of sad  
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had  
I find it hard to tell you  
I find it hard to take  
When people run in circles it's a very, very  
Mad world  
Mad world  
Enlarging your world  
Mad world"_

There was a short silence as the echo of the last chords faded away. The phoenix stared hard at the griffin's face, trying to read what she was feeling from her expression; she found nothing.

"_Etwas ist falsch. Sind Sie okay?_" **(1)**

Drayea sighed and ran her fingers over the keys, not playing.

"_Ja… Ich denke._" **(2)**

"_Gut wenn Sie beharren. Gute nacht, Drayea_." **(3)**

The griffin said nothing as the phoenix headed back up the stairs. Shortly afterwards, notes once again danced over the quiet nighttime atmosphere.

_Nobody's Home__, you hate that song… what is going on with you, Drayea?_

_

* * *

_

**Something troubles you, mistress?**

Drayea shut her eyes, still playing; she'd memorized every song she knew how to play as well as the keyboard itself.

_Yeah… just old thoughts coming back…_

**Mistress, you have friends, teammates and people that care about you. How could you possibly feel so empty still?**

_I don't know… I really don't know…_

Ironically, she had gotten to the part of the song appropriate for the moment…

_She's lost inside, lost inside…_

_

* * *

_

Even despite her so-called insomnia, Taylia was up first, as always. It was something she was rather proud of, being able to function properly even with less than average food, sleep and other essentials.

Getting up without a sound, she slipped past the alarm and out into the still-dark morning. Every morning, regardless of her mood, she would run… or more to the point, freerun. For those who don't know what freerunning is, that is a rather dangerous mix of climbing, gymnastics and, well, running…usually from one rooftop to another and other hard-to-reach places. It was a habit she developed when she got out of… that place…

She came to a stop running in the snow, the sharp below-zero cold shocking her like a few hundred volts. Taylia always left her parka behind when she went freerunning; another force of habit, not that she couldn't handle it. Thanks to her meditating, she could regulate her body temperature just by thought. It was a rather handy talent, especially when it was this cold.

Taylia was brought out of her thoughts as she came to the staring point in her run, the familiar old apartment building some 50 feet away. She could tell that everyone inside was sound asleep. Breaking into a sprint, she gathered all her strength as she neared the building, leaping upward with the stored power in her legs, grabbing onto the bottom of the second-story balcony. Hauling herself up, she moved quickly up to the third, fourth, fifth story. She heard scrambling inside the sixth-story apartment. Getting up to the roof, she couldn't help but laugh at the shouting and cursing directed at her; just like old times.

"_Доброе утро мистер_ Rodionov!" **(4)**

Yep, just like old times.

* * *

"Dranzer, attack!"

The cobalt blade responded immediately, slashing the cans stacked in front of him to ribbons of aluminum. He owed Kenny that much; he could really build beyblades.

**Master Kai, it's that presence again…**

Kai snapped his head up, eyes darting around the garden. Voltaire (when he was around) had spared no expense making the garden huge, which didn't help when he was trying to find someone.

Out of nowhere, an onyx and silver streak shot out of the hedge and struck Dranzer's blade, the force causing it to be lodged into the trunk of a nearby sapling.

"_Tsk, tsk_, I expected better of you, Hiwatari."

He looked up to the trees to find _Syevrniy_ sitting casually on one of the old oak's branches with a hawkish smirk on her face, eyes closed and arms folded. Her blade, which was still spinning in front of him, shot up the tree and into the air. Her hand shot out in a lightning-fast movement, snatching it out of the air.

"Oh, so it's you." He growled irritably as he pulled Dranzer out of the tree.

Syevrniy opened her eyes to look at him, still leering. He couldn't help but shudder slightly under her gaze; those eyes were so fiery and intense, even more than his own.

"Hm, I'm not impressed. Your reaction time was pitiful. You'll have to do better if you want to outdo us the next tournament." She chided.

"Then why don't you come down here and show me what I'm up against?" He challenged.

The smirk on her face broadened.

"No, I don't think so. You'll figure that out in time. Besides, I tripped the silent alarm. I'm afraid I really must dash."

Before he had the chance to question the last half of her statement, the barking of guard dogs answered any query he might have had. Syevrniy stood up, putting her blade back into its place on her holster. Leaping acrobatically from one tree branch to the next, landing on the edge of the wall around the garden. Kai could only watch, hypnotized by her graceful movements. Before she leapt off the wall and out of sight, she turned back to look at him, the sun rising and making her a silhouette. It seemed almost as if there was a pair of phoenix wings unfurled from her back.

"Until then, Hiwatari."

"Wait!"

She paused.

"What is your name?" He half demanded, half pleaded. It was so uncharacteristic of him, but this girl intrigued him.

She smirked.

"I will not give my full name, but you may call me Taylia."

Without another word, she swan-dove off the wall and out of sight. Kai stood there a moment, registering what had happened.

_What is it about her that keeps me wondering?_

* * *

**  
(1) Something is wrong. Are you okay?**

**(2) Yes… I am thinking…**

**(3) Well, if you persist. Good night, Drayea.**

**(4) Good morning, mister Rodionov! **


	3. All For One and One For All

**Four Winds: Chapter Three**

**_All For One and One For All_**

**_

* * *

_**

**Yurii:** _Whew! Chapter three already! I hope I'm off to a good start… This chapter, you actually get to seetwo of the girls in action… _

_

* * *

_

Taylia gave a contended sigh as her boots clomped down the steps; by now, their living area smelled like bacon and something else that probably got burnt to a crisp. She smirked when she walked in: Drayea was at the stove, Mitsu was reading the paper, and Riikka had apparently just got up, seeing that she was still in her pajamas and the bunny slippers she hated so much.

"Hey, Tai. Just in time for the slop Drayea calls breakfast."

"I resent that! You're just pissed that I can cook better than you."

"You wanna back that up?"

"Bring it on, Shorty."

The taller German girl received a dark glare from the Finn.

"I hate you with every inch of my being."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but that ain't a lot of inches."

By now, Taylia had collapsed into her chair laughing as Riikka made to grab the frying pan to lob at Drayea's head, but instead dumped scalding-hot cooking oil on her slippers. Drayea, who was armed with a meat-tenderizing mallet, folded her arms and smirked victoriously.

Score: Drayea- 1, Riikka- 0.

"Damn it!"

"_Smooth_, Korpela."

Mitsu smirked; she put in her two bits every now and then.

"Looks like you'll be having deep-fried bunnies for breakfast."

Riikka's eyebrow twitched at the mental image of two rabbits boiling in vegetable oil.

_Cringe._

"_That_ was just _wrong_. _Thanks_ a _ton_, Utariyma. I no longer have any appetite whatsoever. I'm now even considering becoming vegetarian."

Mitsu snickered along with the others as the grey-eyed Finn headed to her "room" and returned moments later fully dressed in her usual attire. Taylia managed to get herself under control again as she got up and leaned against the wall by the door as Drayea got up and grabbed her parka to head out.

"And where might you be going off to, _Zapad_?" **(1)**

"Out. Gundula is getting restless."

Taylia cocked an eyebrow, though her expression was good-natured.

"Whatever you say. Try not to pummel any amateurs _too_ badly."

_Smirk._

"I'll try."

* * *

_  
Hmmm... home sweet home..._ She thought bitterly. 

The roads were deserted, a good thing in Drayea's book; she had an odd habit of walking in the middle of the street when she wanted to think.

It seemed like an eternity ago that Drayea had seen the white world of a Russian winter; the sun seemed to be afraid to come out as winter settled deeper into the land. Germany wasn't the same; Russia felt like her home, even though she wasn't even native. However, it brought back dark memories she wished she didn't remember...

**Mistress, are you alright?**

_I'm fine, Gundula. It's just... it seems strange to be here again._

**I understand.**

Drayea sighed, pulling up the collar of her parka a little further. She didn't like the cold, whether she was used to it or not. It reminded her of the cold steel and stone she grew up being surrounded by, and the very thought made her shiver. As she continued down the almost-deserted streets, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

_Ah ha, so that's where you've been._

_

* * *

_

"Tai, sit down, you're giving me a bloody headache pacing like that."

Riikka received a glare as a response as the team captain paced from one side of her bedroom to the other and back again, her arms folded and wearing an expression that was stone cold. The Finn sighed, exasperated.

"What in the hell is bothering you so damn much, anyway?"

Taylia sighed and paused, now standing in front of a wall. She shut her eyes and rested her forehead against the wall.

"It's Drayea. I worry about her, and with good reason."

"She's still... you know..."

"Yeah..." She replied softly. "Scars that deep never go away, no matter how anyone tries to help a person forget. It's sad, really." Taylia looked up and stared at Riikka. "How would you feel if you had to go through life feeling like you didn't have a purpose and no matter how much you looked, you couldn't find it?"

"Empty, very empty."

"Exactly. That's what's got me worried. I'm afraid she might try to hurt herself again."

There was silence, then Riikka got up and started to walk out. Before she shut the door, she offered only a few words of wisdom.

"Drayea has friends to live for; she'd rather feel empty than see us hurt."

* * *

_  
9:15 am... -sigh- It's going to be a long day._

Drayea shoved her hands back into her pockets: she had the hands of a pianist and a beyblader in one, a trait Taylia had a habit of pointing out when she was degrading herself as she often did when she was venting. She knew better than to take her temper out on others, so she vented either on herself or some poor, doomed inanimate object. For some reason, she'd been feeling a bit depressed lately; it was probably just homesickness. Yes, that was it, she just missed Germany.

"Well well well, if it isn't Rothstein. Didn't expect to run into you."

In the amount of time it took Drayea to whirl around, she'd already loaded her launcher and blade to find an all-too familiar redheaded Wolf standing where had used to be behind her less than a second before.

* * *

Tala managed to keep his expression calm despite his surprise of Drayea reacting so quickly, not to mention that he was staring down her launcher. If she pulled the ripcord... 

"What the hell do you want, Ivanov?"

He just smirked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thought I'd say _hi_."

She didn't buy it. He paled slightly when she clicked off the safety: launchers were basically guns with a ripcord, and the lethalness of it just depended on the holder's arm strength. Judging by her physique as he'd seen before, he didn't doubt that she was fairly strong.

"Just shut up and get out your launcher. It's pretty obvious you were looking for a battle."

**She can read you like a book.**

He ignored Wolborg's comment and readied his blade and launcher as Drayea stepped back to make room for an arena. Anyone who was on the streets noticed immediately the two teenagers with their launchers in the middle of the street -one of them a Blitzkreig Boy- and fled. Everyone knew how they got their name, and they didn't want to be around to experience it first hand.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIPPP!"

Two streaks, one silver and the other krylon blue shot towards one another, clashing within a few seconds of release from their launchers.

"Wolborg, defense!"

"Gundula, attack!"

**Tala, what are you doing! You're giving her too much of a break! ATTACK HER!**

_I want to see what she can do._

**Fine then. It's your fault if we lose.**

All the while Wolborg was arguing with Tala, Gundula was fiercely attacking his silver blade with incredibly fast and forceful strikes.

"Gundula, Arctic Circle!"

_She's calling on a special attack already?_

The bit chip on the krylon blade flashed blue as its spin picked up speed, creating a frigid torrent of wind around it. A distant, echoing shriek could be heard as the torrent picked up snow lying on the ground: it was a sneak attack. Listening for it would do no good over the howling wind, and it was almost zero visibility. The sounds of metal clashing against metal were drowned out by the war cry of a griffin and the howl of a wolf being attacked.

"Wolborg, fight back! Howling Tempest!"

* * *

Drayea smirked when she overheard Tala calling out an attack. 

_Now that's more like it._

"Attack!"

Blue and silver shot back and forth, striking in movements so fast that they were almost invisible. Two pairs of blue eyes followed the movements of their own blades, occasionally glancing up at the other as if trying to read their next attack.

"Wolborg, again! Howling Tempest!"

This time, his blade struck hers with an attack as the wind turned into a torrent again, now with shards of ice spinning around as well; Wolborg was picking up the pace this time.

"Two can play at this game. Gundula, ATTACK!"

* * *

**_  
Elapsed time: 15 minutes_**

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

The wind ceased abruptly as the end of the third Arctic Circle attack came: Tala's blade was starting to wobble. The attack had done little damage, but then again, she wasn't using her full power. Staring hard down at her blade, she consulted Gundula for the next attack.

**Lets give my old rival Wolborg a taste of the newly improved _Tempest Scythe_!**

"Whatever you say, Gundula..." She murmured with a smirk.

"Brace yourself for this one, Ivanov! **_Gundula, Tempest Scythe!_**"

This time, the bit chip gave off a fierce sapphire glow as the griffin emerged for the attack. She could see Tala's eyes widen a bit; Gundula was _huge_, not as big as Arseni, but it was enough to rival Robert's Grypholyon.

Gundula was impressive, not just because of her species but her appearance. Her wings' build was more like that of an eagle's rather than a normal bird like Grypholyon, making them much more powerful in battle. Her four lion's paws were taloned like that of an eagle's as well, and despite being a female bit beast, she was a powerful, well-muscled creature just like the lion she was half of. She had a lion's tail as well, but every here and there one could see feathers tucked in among her fur.

The massive griffin reared up on its hind legs, throwing its head back and emitting a shrill war cry as it beat its huge wings, the wind around it picking up to the level of a gale force. Even though it was her own attack, Drayea crossed her arms in front of her defensively and widened her stance to stay better anchored to the ground.

"Wolborg, emerge! **_Kamikaze Torrent!_**"

Too late to try and counter the attack, the armored wolf emerged from the confines of its bit chip as the griffin charged, surrounded by blades of wind ready to strike.

"ATTACK!"

* * *

"There, good as new. Next time Riikka, try to be little more careful with Ukko, okay?" 

Before the Finn could respond, a distant '**boom**!' interrupted her, shaking the building.

"What the hell was that!"

Taylia stood up from her work station and ran to the window. A huge cloud of white smoke was rising up from the park 3 miles away.

"Drayea!"

* * *

"Hey, anyone know where Red went off to?" 

Only Ian graced Danica's question with a reply.

"Out. Said he was going down to the park or something."

No one had the chance to say or do anything else before the sound of an explosion tore them all away from whatever they were doing.

"Tala..."

"Dani, stay here!"

The other four Blitzkrieg Boys rushed out of the house, unaware of the situation about to unfold.

* * *

"_-pant, pant-_ Had enough yet? _-pant-_" 

"Heh, _-pant-_ you wish..."

Drayea wiped away a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth, still smirking. She had to admit, Tala was _very_ good, and it was a nice change from her teammates' blading styles: most of which she had memorized save for Taylia. The incredible force of her Tempest Scythe and his Kamikaze Torrent colliding had completely demolished the entire length of the street they were battling on, and any buildings close enough had all their windows broken as well as extensive damage to the outside. Those **Heavy Offense** attacks were something else. **(2)**

**

* * *

**

On the other side of the totalled street, Tala returned the smirk just as beaten up as she was. Apparently they both thought the same. Gundula's attack had drawn more blood than Wolborg's, but they were both equally powerful attacks. The damage evened out anyway: Drayea looked like she'd been hit by a truck, and Tala appeared to have gone head-to-head with a wood chipper... and lost.

"Shall we make it a little more interesting, or was that all you had?" She taunted, straightening up as she brushed off the snow that was falling from the explosion from the two attacks colliding.

"_Che_, please. I'm just getting started." He replied with a confident leer.

"Bring it on, then."

Challenge Accepted.

"Wolborg, **_Novae Rogue!_**"

"Gundula, **_Gale Tempest Scythe_**!" **(3)**

Before either bit beast could unleashed their final attacks, a shrill cry echoed out as a bird-shaped fireball dive bombed between the wolf and griffin, slamming into both of them and making them collapse back into their barely-spinning blades. A tower of snow shot up from the impact of the fireball hitting the ground, causing a moment of zero visibility. When it cleared, standing there were the rest of the _Tsyetirye Vyetra_ girls, Riikka being the one helping to support the still-injured Drayea,and standing defensively in front of them was the very pissed-off looking team captain.

_Syevrniy..._

"Tala!"

He didn't even look back when he heard his teammates coming up behind him and stopping beside their captain, though the Four Winds (excluding Drayea) gave them a group death glare for their efforts.

"_Ugniy, получает Gundula._" **(4)**

Riikka nodded and held out her free hand. Drayea's blade reacted almost immediately and jumped up into her gloved hand, disappearing into the South Wind blader's pocket.

Syevrniy turned back to the Blitzkrieg Boys as a current of wind passed through, giving her braid the effect only Kai's scarf could. She too held out her hand, her own blade of onyx and silver returning to her and being replaced back into its pouch on her holster. The teams stared one another down until Syevrniy broke the silence.

"_Vostotsniy!_"

The Japanese girl whipped out her launcher in response and launched her midnight blue and gold blade.

"Raiuma, Light Screen!"

The bit chip flashed gold once before a blinding flash lit up the entire area. When it cleared, all four of them were gone faster than they had come. All that was left behind was the image of a compass rose where they had been standing. The wind died away a moment as if to add to the effect before picking up again.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Tala."

* * *

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Drayea." 

Taylia just sighed at her teammate's silence. The Light Screen had worked in making a clean getaway, but it wasn't meant for teleporting or anything like that: they were walking back, Taylia carrying Drayea on her back. It was a bit hard to do since Drayea was bigger than she was, but her lack in size compared to the German, she made up for it in her determination. Behind them, Mitsu and Riikka were silent.

"I mean it. Unless you want to walk back yourself, you'd better speak up."

"Don't get mad at me: he's the one who wanted a battle."

"You know that's not what I mean, Drayea. I'm talking about that stupid move trying to use your Final Attack outside of the stadium. You know that the Gale Tempest Scythe is too powerful to be used in anything besides emergency situations."

Drayea said nothing. A moment passed in silence before Taylia sighed. That was one of the things that made her such a good leader: she couldn't stay mad at her teammates long.

"Well, I'll give you this much, you sure showed him who's boss!" She said teasingly.

"Oh yeah? You should've seen the looks on their faces when you and Arseni dive bombed them. _That_, my friend, was _priceless_."

"Well, it seems we're still good at living up to our motto." Mitsu put in, jogging to catch up to the two.

"You bet." Riikka added, following suit.

"_You mess with one of us, you deal with all of us!_" They all said in unison: it was practically a ritual, and it was one they never failed to uphold.

The four laughed as they continued on their way, blissfully unaware of what Mr. Dickenson had in mind for the teams.

* * *

**  
(1) In case you forgot, _Zapad_ is the West Wind blader.**

**(2) Heavy Offense- Powerful offensive attacks that cause serious damage to opponents, but they are so strong that they injure both bladers. **

**(3) The _Gale Tempest Scythe_ is Gundula's and Drayea's final attack.**

**(4) South, get Gundula. **

**(5) _Ugniy_ (Riikka) is South Wind, _Vostotsniy_ (Mitsu) is East Wind. **


	4. Settling In

**Four Winds: Chapter Four **

**Settling In

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _BWAHAHAHAHA CHAPTER FOUR! This was really fun to write. :) I decided to be a little evil to the characters. Not much else to say here, so… ONWARD! _

**Important Note: I will be gone all weekend, so I won't be able to respond to any emails or posts I receive.**

_

* * *

_

"Talking"

_Thinking_

**Bit Beast Communicating**

(**Author's notes**)

(Random shit)

* * *

**Disclaimer: If I owned beyblade, there would be an entire episode dedicated to showing the slow, gruesome and painful deaths of Boris and Voltaire, and both Kai and Tala would have a girlfriend. I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE, so don't try to sue me. I actually do have an attorney, so even if you tried to sue me I can fight back! HA!

* * *

**

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Sadly, I'm not."

Drayea groaned and fell back on the couch. Mr. Dickenson had sent out a letter to all of the teams requiring them to come to some BBA-sponsored lodge in southern Switzerland. Unfortunately for the Four Winds, that meant that they would have to meet all the other teams, and with the big fuss people were making about having a new team in next year's tournament, it was expected that they would get _a lot_ of challenges. _Greeeaaaat._

Taylia looked over at the Finnish girl, who had her back turned to them.

"You're rather calm about this, Riikka."

"Huh?"

A sweatdrop appeared on three heads when they saw that she was sharpening her hunting knife.

"We have to meet all the other teams up in Switzerland." Drayea put in.

"WHAT?"

The sweatdrops got larger as Riikka jumped to her feet, knife blade extended as the whet fell to the ground, forgotten. Growing annoyed, Taylia whipped out her own knife (**9-inch blade. Yes.**) and expertly threw it across the room, nicking the blade of Riikka's knife and knocking it out of her hand. Her own knife embedded itself in the wall behind her.

"Riikka, need I remind you not to play with sharp objects when you're angry?" Taylia said with a dangerously calm tone.

The other three girls were silent as their team captain yanked her knife out of the wall and shoved it into her pocket. Or rather, into its holster. She'd gotten the idea from Drayea: she'd cut out the bottoms of her pockets and kept a knife holster strapped to her bare leg so that when she reached into her pocket she could draw her knife. It was discreet enough to be carried around in public without drawing attention, and if she needed to get to it, it was in the perfect place where it would look casual, unsuspecting and most importantly, undetected. Add to that the fact that she was a fast draw. You can draw conclusions from there.

_Smirk_.

"Well, we knew something like this would happen eventually. That's what we get for signing up for the tournament." She turned to face her team, her expression thoughtful. "Well, I'm not going to try and force anyone to go. Who's in?"

Taylia put her hand out, eyes scanning the faces of her teammates asking them for their participation with unspoken words. Drayea was the first to speak up from her place on the couch with her arms folded and legs crossed.

"Well, I owe it to you anyways, and even though I don't like it, I guess I'm in."

She got up and put her hand in as well. Riikka was next.

"I'm a part of a team for once in my life, and I'll go where you go." She too put her hand in. That just left Mitsu.

The Japanese girl sighed unsurely, her arms folded and legs crossed. She wasn't used to working in a group; hell, she still wondered why the hell she had even bothered to join the team in the first place. She never was the best with teamwork...

Getting up with a slight groan from the effort, Mitsu got up and put her hand on the others'. She looked at them with a half-smile.

"Let's go."

* * *

Sigh. 

Pause.

Sigh.

Pause.

Si-

"If you sigh one more time, I will tie you to the bumper and drag you the rest of the way."

Riikka swallowed the sigh she would have let out if it hadn't been for Drayea's threat. That was the creepiest thing about the griffin: she never made threats she couldn't back up. What was even creepier was that some of them were pretty gruesome.

"Geez, just 'cause you're PMS-ing doesn't mean you have to take it out on me."

The Finn received a glare in response. Taylia, now thoroughly annoyed, ripped her ear buds out of her ears and whirled around in her seat to glare down her teammates.

"Riikka, do us all a huge favor and **shut up**. Drayea, quit acting like someone shoved a frickin' stick up your ass."

At the front of the bus, Mitsu chuckled quietly to herself at the unfolding scene. Even though she was almost the youngest member of the team, it felt like she was babysitting three younger sisters, one of which who happened to be a legal adult.

Taylia stuffed her ear buds back in and turned up the volume, eventually drowning out the groan of the bus' engine and nodding her head with the beat of a Linkin Park song. Riikka just shrugged off her team captain's comment and stretched herself out over the length of the whole backseat. Drayea, who was sitting in the middle not far from Taylia just folded her arms and closed her eyes.

It was going to be a _long_ bus ride.

* * *

"Hey Tai?" 

"Mm?"

"You know how we got a list with all the team names on it?"

"Mm."

"_Mm_ to you too. Can't you respond in a real language?"

A very irritated Taylia sat up from her position stretched out across two seats.

"Think about it, Riikka. I am an insomniac, which means I don't sleep much. I value the time that I DO get to sleep, and right now you are interrupting me." She growled.

Judging by the look on her face, she was only an arm's reach away from her knife and Riikka's imminent death. The Finn made a motion with one hand over her mouth as though zipping it shut. Taylia gave a twisted smirk before falling back onto her makeshift bed again and going back to sleep.

Riikka sighed. She had long since admitted to being the most impatient member of the team, but this was ridiculous. Two whole freaking days on a bus wasn't helping her patience –or lack thereof- at all.

_Karma is a bitch._

She idly wondered what sin she was paying for.

* * *

"We'll be arriving in 15 minutes, and according to Mr. D, we should be one of the first teams there, so it won't be quite as chaotic." 

"**Finally.**"

Taylia rolled her eyes at Riikka and continued.

"Anyway, let's just make a few things clear.

1) No killing/maiming annoying bladers. This especially applies to you, Riikka. ("Awww!")

2) If you decide to take a challenge, don't use your final attacks, especially not at full power. We don't want them to know all our best attacks before the tournament. It'll give them time to come up with a counter.

3) This one isn't exactly a rule, but I think you'll enjoy it: feel free to use your normal launchers."

The other three girls smirked almost simultaneously. Each of them had a launcher designed to fit their bit beast's designated weapon attack. Example: Gundula's **Tempest _Scythe_**. Drayea's made her look even more menacing than usual- her custom launcher was a scythe with an elaborately carved blade with a staff handle that was as tall as she was. A tattered red ribbon was tied near the top, and when she was _really _pissed off, you knew you were staring down your defeat.

The list of their custom launchers looked like this by appearance: (Taylia has three)  
**Taylia:** Lance, scythe, twin guai (For launching both blades at once- Garland's launcher is a guai just for reference)  
**Drayea:** Scythe  
**Mitsu:** Glaive  
**Riikka:** Meteor Hammer

Still, as scary as an enraged Drayea was, they all had to agree that Taylia clad in her black trench coat and armed with her own scythe launcher (it was her backup), she looked like the Grim Reaper.

"Ladies, we've arrived."

The four bladers looked up and went to the windows. Inside looking out, they could see a rather typical log cabin-style lodge, though it actually looked like a lodge in the center of a small village.

"Well, at least there are no paparazzi." Mitsu said, trying to be cheerful.

Three heads turned to look at her, all of them with a skeptical raised eyebrow as if to say 'You're joking, right?'. Mitsu just looked away, mouth shut. That was the only problem with her; when she put in her two bits, it tended to come out sounding pretty stupid.

The Four Winds girls filed off the bus, Taylia opening up the cargo doors and handing them their bags and custom launchers. They'd all packed pretty light, taking only the essentials; no point in taking something they wouldn't need. It was practically deserted inside save for the receptionist. Just when they thought they'd gotten away...

"Who the hell are you?"

Whoever had spoken -rather rudely I might add- only got them to look over their shoulders. Drayea resisted the urge to grab her scythe launcher and teach the rude punk a -brutal-lesson in manners.

Taylia just shot him a dark glare; the idiot who'd spoken was a silver-haired teenaged boy whom they immediately recognized as Garland of team BEGA. In person, he was noticeably taller than they'd thought; almost 6 feet tall. Nonetheless, Taylia in a bad mood was far more intimidating, and lo and behold, Syevrniy was already pissed off from lack of sleep.

"Read the damn list and guess." She snapped, her free hand moving to her side.

Taylia's first custom launcher (again stated, the scythe was backup) was a long lance with a blade decorated like a phoenix, appropriate to suit Arseni's Heavy Offense attack: the Omni Infernal Lance. She had it hanging by a strap from her belt so that it was parallel with her leg. The thing was surprisingly heavy despite its appearance, so even hitting a certain _someone _(-cough-Garland!-cough-) over the head with it would do plenty of damage.

"I'm just going to take a wild guess and say you're the rumored _Tsyetirye Vyetra_."

Taylia turned fully around, now thoroughly annoyed.

"Bravo Sherlock, you figured it out. Extra points for pronouncing the name right." The sarcasm dripping from her words was almost acidic.

Turning back around on her heel in a military-like fashion, Taylia trudged forward with her team right behind her.

_Stupid asshole.

* * *

_

"Well, isn't this charming."

The way the lodge was decorated was strange enough; the way it was arranged was even weirder. Their were 4 long cabins organized in a kind of circle around the lodge, and in each "cabin" were two dorms, one for each team residing there. The dorms themselves had a huge kitchen-slash-living room-slash-dining room when one came through the door, and through one doorway led to a small hall. At one end was the laundry room, and lined up in the middle were two bedrooms with bunk beds in both of them. At the far end of the hall was a bathroom large enough for two whole teams even though only one would be occupying it. Not too much farther down was what Taylia guessed to be the den; it came as no surprise to her if Mr. Dickenson had provided them with a few things. In Drayea's case, a piano.

Riikka immediately claimed the top bunk in the room she was sharing with Mitsu, and Taylia and Drayea -who could care less about who got top and who got bottom- just did rock-paper-scissors. Drayea was on the bottom.

What was interesting though was when the girls got settled and started putting their things in the dresser drawers. Taylia found a note from Mr. Dickenson telling them that they would have to place a sign on their door to show which team it was residing there. Riikka, being the artist she was, immediately set to work on the provided bronze-gold colored metal plate and carved a simple but elaborate -and surprisingly neat- compass rose with their name written in Russian and Latin letters on the bottom below it. Their names were carved in their native languages in their appropriate spots.

It didn't take long for the girls to get settled, and a few hours after they arrived they could hear heavy footsteps as their cabin-mates arrived. Another hour passed, and the other team was silent again. Mitsu was the first to break the silence.

"Shall we go see who our temporary neighbors are?"

The others shrugged as Mitsu got up and opened the wooden door, their new sign screwed to the outside shining dully in the light. A moment passed before the Japanese girl returned, her face slightly pale.

"Something wrong, Vostotsniy?" Taylia asked.

"It's our neighbors."

"What, are they the BBA Revolution? If it's them, I can understand. Tyson and Daichi are supposed to be very loud." Riikka put in.

"No, worse."

Taylia cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"The Blitzkrieg Boys."

* * *

"Well, if it isn't our old friends the Four Winds." 

Taylia cringed inwardly. She was hoping that getting out early would help avoid confrontation. Guess not.

" 'Old friends'? I'm flattered, Ivanov." Taylia replied dryly.

"Yeah, real cute Syevrniy." Tala stared down the team captain. She stared back in a defiant, almost challenging manner. No, she definitely wouldn't back down without a fight.

"I don't suppose introductions are in order?"

Both Taylia and Drayea sighed; this was getting old.

"Eh, fine. Taylia Strelnikov, alias _Syevrniy_ the North Wind, at your service." She gave a mock bow.

"Drayea Rothstein, alias _Zapad_ the West Wind."

"Mitsu Utariyma, alias _Vostotsniy_ the East Wind."

"Riikka Korpela, alias _Ugniy_ the South Wind."

"And now that you know all our names, I bid you _adieu_."

"Great, now she speaks French."

"_Oui, il y a de fromage dans mon pantalon._." **(1)**

The other Four Winds girls snickered as their now thoroughly annoyed team captain turned and left with Mitsu and Riikka right behind her. Drayea turned to go as well but was cut off when Tala put an arm in front of her.

"I don't believe we finished our battle."

Drayea smirked in spite of herself.

_He's way too confident. I think his ego needs a little puncturing. _

**Shall we?**

_Lets._

"Bring it on, Ivanov. Let's hope you got a little better since the last time we fought."

* * *

Outside, the snow was falling quietly down, sticking to the already fallen snowflakes and slowly mounting up. The morning quiet would be abruptly shattered by two warring bit beasts. 

Tala cocked an eyebrow when he saw Drayea pull out her scythe launcher.

"Dare I ask?"

"No."

He shrugged it off and loaded his own launcher, Wolborg rearing and angry for some revenge. Drayea got into a kind of fighting stance.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIPP!"

* * *

**2 HOURS LATER

* * *

**

"_-pant-_ You're a lot better _-pant-_ than you let on."

Drayea smirked.

"You're not _-pant-_ so bad _-pant-_ yourself." She replied as she picked up the krylon blue blade out of the crater it made in the earth where it had been thrown back. They'd been fighting the entire time, and each time ended in a tie. More specifically, 8 ties.

Even the Russian team captain had to admit, Drayea was a hell of a lot stronger than she let on. Even Wolborg had admitted it. Tala stared down the griffin as she loaded her beyblade yet again into the shaft of the actual blade of her scythe; he couldn't even remember a time when he felt so much raw power radiating off of a single person. Even Taylia knew how to keep her aura down, but Drayea's was out freely, and it was incredible.

"Shall we continue, or is 8 ties enough?" Drayea asked absentmindedly as she continued fiddling with her scythe.

"I think that's enough for now."

**(I'm gonna let my BFF take over- I'm having a bout of writer's block: check out her account Rikuno Nishi!)**

Drayea put her launcher away, pulling the strap so it stayed on. Putting two fingers to her forehead and giving Tala a mock salute, she did an about-face and walked off. Tala stared after her. Drayea's launcher caught a beam of light, the blade glinting.

_Damn. Note to self: do not anger Drayea when scythe is within reaching distance.

* * *

_

"Ukko, attack!"

"Raiuma, counter!"

Taylia turned to look over her shoulder when she heard her teammates' yelling. She was definitely getting further away; of course, this was the idea. She was walking through the huge forest behind the lodge up the mountain to find a decent but isolated spot to train. She always did it alone unless one of her teammates wanted to test a new strategy and battle her, but how her techniques were done were known only to her. Arseni's power had to be carefully kept under control, and at the right moment, she would unleash a small burst of power to completely destroy her opponent.

She fingered the twin guai launchers strapped to her belt by her... other launcher. She had gotten three custom launchers made, one for each blade and the twin guai (think like Garland's launcher- that is a guai) in case the situation to launch both at once came up. Right now, she was carrying the guai and lance. The lance alone weighed about25 pounds and the guai about 3 each, but it felt light as a feather to her. Then again, if every girl in the BBA trained like she did, they'd think it was light too.

_Arseni, you said that you finally developed your final fifth attack?_

**Yes, I did. It's called the Vulcan Ravage Talon. Shall we try it out?**

_If we're going to use it in the battle dome, we'll have to._

**Agreed. **

_However, there is one thing I have to practice with before your new attack..._

Taylia suddenly stopped and pulled out both her blades, looking carefully at each bit chip. Her eyes remained on the other a bit longer. It was so hard to believe that she held so much power in both hands, but this was something else.

_**Ah, it has been a while, my Mistress.**_

_Yes, it has Black Dranzer.

* * *

_

**Yurii:** -suspenseful music- _Dun dun dun! PLOT TWIST! Yes, Taylia is the owner and wielder of Black Dranzer! And you were wondering what that second blade was doing in her holster (:

* * *

_

**(1) Yes, there is cheese in my pants.

* * *

**

**Yurii: _Sauerkraut! WTF? o.0! (Don't ask)_  
_RN:_ You told me to, damn you!  
Yurii: _She lies! All lies!  
RN:_ Your eye is twitching.  
Yurii: _-twitch, twitch- No it isn't.  
RN:_ Whatever you say, Yurii...  
Yurii: _Be grateful I let you type, bitch!  
RN:_ My heart overflows with thanks, now let me get back to typing.  
Yurii: _NEVER! Leave a review so I have a legitimate excuse to work harder._**


	5. Four Winds: Profiles

**Four Winds: **

**_Profiles_**

**

* * *

**

**Name:** Taylia R. Strelnikov

**Second Name:** North Wind- Северный (Syevyerniy)

**Nickname(s):** Tai

**Age:** 17

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'7"

**Eyes:** Crimson-gold

**Hair:** Dark Brown

**Nationality:** Russian

**Rank:** Team Captain- Four Winds

-----

**Beyblade Model:** Arseni ZS

**Bit Beast:** Arseni

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Lightning/Fire

**Species:** Armored Phoenix

**Attacks:**

Vulcan Ravage Talon (Offense, Fire)

Lightning Ravage Talon (Offense, Lightning)

Omni Infernal Lance (Heavy Offense, Fire)

Flaming Survivor Spiral (Defense, Fire)

Infernal Volcano Emission (Final Attack, Fire/Fire)

Armageddon Vulcan Barrage (Final Attack, Fire/Lightning)

------

**Beyblade Model:** Black Dranzer HMS

**Bit Beast:** Black Dranzer

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Shadow

**Species:** Armored Phoenix

**Attacks:**

Shadow Ravage Talon (Offense, Shadow)

Eclipse Nightshade (Offense, Shadow)

Nightshade Scythe (Heavy Offense, Shadow)

Dark Citadel (Defense, Shadow)

Holocaust Scythe (Final Attack, Shadow/Shadow)

Apocalypse Saber (Final Attack, Shadow/Shadow)

* * *

**Name:** Drayea N. Rothstein 

**Second Name:** West Wind- западно (Zapadno)

**Nickname(s):** Dray/Draye

**Age:** 18

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'8"

**Eyes:** Blue (or Gray)

**Hair:** Auburn

**Nationality:** German

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

-----

**Beyblade Model:** Gundula ZS

**Bit Beast:** Gundula

**Gender:** Female

**Element:** Earth/Ice

**Species:** Griffin

**Attacks:**

Arctic Circle (Offense, Ice/Earth)

Everest Kamikaze (Offense, Ice)

Tempest Scythe (Heavy Offense, Ice)

Tectonic Barrier (Defense, Earth)

Gale Tempest Scythe (Final Attack, Ice/Ice)

Platonic Tremor (Final Attack, Earth/Earth)

* * *

**Name:** Mitsu Y. Utariyma 

**Second Name:** East Wind- Восточный (Vostoshniy)

**Nickname(s):** None

**Age:** 16

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'9"

**Eyes:** Green

**Hair:** Black

**Nationality:** Japanese

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

-----

**Beyblade Model:** Raiuma ZS

**Bit Beast:** Raiuma

**Gender:** Female

**Element:** Lightning

**Species:** Armored Horse

**Attacks:**

Aurora Lumen (Offense, Lightning)

Ten-Thousand Volt Strike (Offense, Lightning)

Static Glaive (Heavy Offense, Lightning)

Electric Citadel (Defense, Lightning)

Static Columbine (Final Attack, Lightning)

Photonic Cleaver Bolt (Final Attack, Lightning)

* * *

**Name:** Riikka A. Korpela 

**Second Name:** South Wind- Южный (Uzhniy)

**Nickname(s):** Ice Princess

**Age:** 16

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'6"

**Eyes:** Grey

**Hair:** Honey-brown

**Nationality:** Finnish

**Rank:** Blader- Four Winds

-----

**Beyblade Model:** Ukko ZS

**Bit Beast:** Ukko

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Thunder/Sonic

**Species:** Armored Ram

**Attacks:**

Sonic Boom (Offense, Sonic)

Berserker Thunder (Offense, Thunder)

Ultrasonic Shockwave (Heavy Offense, Sonic)

Sound Barrier (Defense, Sonic/Thunder)

Hypersonic Sound Wave (Final Attack, Sonic)

Supersonic Sound Wave (Final Attack, Thunder)

**

* * *

**

**Name:** Danica Z. Arsenyev

**Second Name:** None

**Nickname(s):** Dani

**Age:** 15

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'1"

**Eyes:** Blue

**Hair:** Dirty Blonde

**Nationality:** Slavic

**Rank:** Blader- Majestics

-----

**Beyblade Model:** Kazic RM

**Bit Beast:** Kazic

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Water

**Species:** Dragon

**Attacks:**

Tsunami Tidal Wave (Offense, Water)

Sapphire Riptide (Offense, Water)

Acid Rain Torrent (Heavy Offense, Water)

Monsoon Citadel (Defense, Water)

Typhoon Flash Flood (Final Attack, Water)

Maelstrom Hydro Cannon (Final Attack, Water)

* * *

**_TAG TEAM ATTACKS_**

**Taylia-**  
Black Dranzer/Arseni  
- Double Ravage Talon  
- Twin Phoenix Gig  
- Holocaust Armageddon

Taylia/Drayea- Tempest Infernal Talon

Taylia/Kai- Double Helix Firestorm

Taylia/Riikka- Flaming Sonic

Taylia/Mitsu- Crimson Lightning Strike

Drayea/Tala- Kamikaze Novae Rog

Drayea/Riikka- Everest Thunder

Drayea/Mitsu- Lightning Tremor

Mitsu/Spencer- Electric Tidal Wave

Mitsu/Riikka- Sonic Lightning Columbine

Riikka/Bryan- Tempest Thunder

Danica/Ian- Desert Tidal Wave

Taylia/Drayea/Riikka/Mitsu- Compass Rose


	6. Odd Circumstances

**Four Winds:**

**Odd Circumstances **

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _Dare I spoil it? Sure, why not: the first hints of the Tala/OC pairing come out here as well as some slightly more intense Kai/OC :) TALLY HO! _

_

* * *

_

_Breathe in, and tense… exhale and relax…_

**Mistress?**

Drayea's expression became slightly annoyed, though her eyes remained closed. She remained in the punching stance she was in, temporarily breaking the pattern of practicing her martial arts moves.

_What could be so important to interrupt me?_ She asked bitterly.

**I've been thinking a lot lately…**

_Really? That's amazing._

**Ha, ha. Very funny, Drayea.**

_Well, what is it?_

**Have you considered trying to find a mate?**

There was a thud as Drayea fell none-too-gracefully and landed face first on the ground from the question.

**_WHAT! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?_**

**Well, you're always by yourself, and I can sense when you get lonely-**

_I don't need some leech sticking to my side 24/7. I'm better off flying solo._

It was silent as Drayea dusted herself off and started back up on her punching and kicking combos only to be interrupted **again**.

**What about that one boy Tala?**

Again, a not so graceful anime-style fall, but this time she couldn't keep it in.

"WHA-? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? There is no way in HELL I will ever CONSIDER that coldhearted egocentric asshole!"

**Why not? He seems decent, and by your human standards he's rather good-looking…**

"Gundula, it's official; you have completely lost it."

**You make it sound like some kind of horrible crime to fall in love.**

It was at that point that Drayea burst out laughing. Not the kind of gut-busting funny type laughing, more like the disbelieving and slightly insane laughter a person makes when something said or done is so outrageous that it's unbelievable. Gundula wasn't amused.

**Are you done?**

"No."

Another few minutes later of laughing, Drayea finally managed to calm down. She was still snickering though.

"Okay, I'm done."

**I'm serious, Drayea. You can deny it all you want, but I see and hear everything that goes through your head. You get lonely, everyone does. It's only natural to want a significant other.**

"No."

Inside her head, the griffin cocked her head to one side, confused at her mistress' sudden change of tone.

_You remember what happened last time. I don't want it to happen again. It hurt too much for me to risk it happening again. End of discussion._

Gundula said nothing more to Drayea, but instead went off in search of someone else…

**_Wolborg?_**

**Oh, it's _you._ **

**_You make it sound like a bad thing._** The griffin replied with a smirk.

**Oh do be quiet. I'm not in the mood.**

**_You're never in the mood. That excuse is so old it should be recycled. _**

Gundula received a glare in return. Instead of leaving, she just sat on her haunches and turned to the wolf.

**_Geez, everyone is so touchy today._**

**Or maybe you're just a pain and _making_ everyone touchy.** Wolborg growled.

**_Wolborg, we need to talk. And I don't mean idle chitchat._**

The ice wolf looked up to the griffin, surprised at the seriousness in her tone.

**I'm listening. **

**

* * *

**

"For the last time, **no**!"

"C'mon, I wanna see what you can do!"

Mitsu shot a dark glare at the short redheaded monkey of a kid demanding a tag team beybattle with him and Tyson as the opponents. Speaking of the World Champ, he was probably off somewhere in search of –you guessed it- food.

"What's it gonna take to get rid of you?"

"Battle me!"

Drayea (who had come into the lodge not even 5 minutes ago just to find Mitsu), was now past any shred of patience she had left and whipped out her scythe launcher in a lightning-fast move and stopped it less than half an inch from Daichi's irritating monkey face.

"Now, I'm only gonna say this once, and I'll use small words so you understand. **NO.** Got it?"

Daichi nodded nervously. Drayea in turn took the launcher out of his face.

"Good, now run along and play or whatever it is you do."

By the time she was done speaking, Daichi had skedaddled as far and fast away in the other direction as he could from the crazy German. Said lunatic smirked as she effortlessly twirled her scythe around.

"He's fast for a little guy."

"Drayea, I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to try to kill and/or maim any of the other bladers."

The griffin and horse turned around just as their captain walked past with a smirk on her face, which could mean one of a few things; Arseni had finally figured out his last of 5 attacks, she had a really good training session, or she was just amused by watching the whole incident.

"Hey, has anyone seen Riikka?" She asked suddenly.

Drayea and Mitsu exchanged glances before the Japanese blader spoke.

"Not since this morning. Why?"

"In case you didn't overhear the announcement on the PA, Saturday night at 8 is the start of some kind of _'formal team meetings'_." She replied, putting air quotes around the loathingly emphasized last words. "I'm sure you all know what that means."

"_Dresses_."

All three of them shuddered in unison. Taylia looked over at Mitsu.

"Okay, back on track. We have to find Riikka. Mitsu, you look in the back around the other dorms. Drayea, you look around the lodge. She could be on any of the 5 floors, and if you don't find her go back to the dorm in case she comes back, same as Mitsu. As for me, I'll head down to the village and see if she decided to walk around there."

The three nodded and headed in their own directions. However, it would be a while before they found their Finnish teammate.

* * *

"Damnit, you beat me again!" 

"Want another go?"

"Bring it on!"

Both girls loaded their launchers, Danica with a smirk. This was the third time that day that she'd beaten Riikka in a purely skill-based match, no fancy attacks. Then again, it didn't really look that the Finn was trying too hard. Riikka had decided to use her normal launcher instead of the heavy meteor hammer that she'd gotten designed to hint at Ukko's Heavy Offense attack: the Ultrasonic Shockwave.

On her side of the field, Riikka was thinking again. Danica was just like Drayea: a **hell** of a lot stronger than she appeared or let on. Kazic was something else as well; the water dragon certainly lived up to its reputation as a force to be reckoned with. Then again, so was Ukko.

_Let's make this a little more interesting…_

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIPP!"

A gold and black blade shot out of Danica's launcher to meet Riikka's bronze and blue blade as they clashed, this time with Ukko striking much more forcefully than the last three matches. The Yugoslavian girl smirked; she knew that Riikka hadn't been trying very hard until now.

_Okay Ukko, let's kick it up a notch._

"Ukko, attack!"

Riikka's bronze and black blade smashed into Danica's, the Slavic girl smirking as Ukko continued its attack.

"Now that's more like it. Kazic, evasive maneuvers!"

The gold and black blade shot out of the way as Riikka tried to ram her again, this time missing and coming to a halt almost immediately. As Taylia had pointed out, Riikka had a rather odd sense of control; she couldn't keep a lid on her temper when she was especially pissed off, but her ability to maneuver her blade almost topped hers.

"Ukko, radar!"

It was a weird ability that the thunder ram possessed; if given the command, Ukko could utilize one of his attacks as a kind of echolocation radar to find and track the opponent. Riikka closed her eyes; thanks to Taylia's intense training, when she cut off one sense, the other four became much sharper… including her hearing.

_It's right in front of me._

"Ukko, charge!"

This time when the ram charged, the hit was a crippling one. A small piece of Danica's blade's defense ring chipped off and landed with an almost inaudible '_clink!_' on the ground. Riikka smirked.

_This is gonna be interesting… _

_

* * *

_

Down in the village and oblivious to the battle taking place nearly 3 miles away, Taylia's vigilant eyes scanned the crowds in search of the aforementioned Finnish ram.

_Stupid Riikka… she's even more careless than Drayea._

Despite being so deep in thought, she was fully aware of the stares she was getting, either from shallow idiots of the opposite gender or fans of beyblading who caught sight of her blades and launcher. Her hand tensed; some of the stares she got, she recognized all too well as challengers sizing her up.

_Heh._

That was the thing about being a girl; people didn't take her seriously and thought she was easy prey, and it was one of the things that Taylia loved to use to her advantage. Hell, she didn't even have to try when battling such incompetent wannabes.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Speaking of incompetent wannabes…

"Uh Maas, I don't think this is a good idea."

Taylia raised one eyebrow and folded her arms, not amused by the four bladers in front of her. The leader, apparently the idiot called Maas, was smirking at her challengingly with his launcher in one hand and his blade in the other.

"Out of my way, kid. You stand no chance against me." She growled, baring a fang-like canine.

"Well, someone's sure of herself."

"Ah, leave her be, Maas. You'll probably kill her with your new bit beast."

_That_ got Taylia's attention. Much to the surprise of the four boys, she threw her head back and laughed, loudly and mockingly.

"Oh, this is rich! You want a battle to test your new bit beast!" She ridiculed them, still with a smirk on her face. "Hon, let's make one thing clear. You can have as many bit beasts as you want, but I only need to use one at a time. Besides, you have to work at it before you can even _use_ your bit beast's attacks." She lectured, now with the familiar sternness of a team captain.

"Great, now she thinks she's a pro."

Running low on patience, Taylia roughly grabbed Maas' collar and hoisted him a few inches off his feet using only one hand.

"Listen up _pal_, cuz I'm only going to say this once, and I'll use small words so you understand me. I'm a world-class beyblader with a lifetime of experience. You're a small-town nobody who thinks he knows what he's doing. If you disrespect your bit beast and bladers who can easily beat you, you **will** lose your bit beast. Do I make myself clear?"

Maas managed to nod. Taylia's smirk returned as she closed her eyes calmly and dropped him flat on his ass.

"Good. Now, run along and get some _real_ training done. I recommend several hours a day." She started to walk away, but paused suddenly, looking over her shoulder. The four boys cowered under her gaze.

"Oh, and if I find out that you tried to pull the same stunt on someone else, I'll show you how _my_ team trains… _my_ way. Now **scat**."

They didn't have to be told twice. Hell, the way they ran, they were even faster than Daichi running from Drayea.

_Losers. _

_

* * *

_

Four hours, and no sign of Riikka. The only use coming out of the day so far was refreshing her memory of a few languages she could speak including Dutch, Bulgarian, Lithuanian and Hungarian to name a few, asking about her blonde, gray-eyed teammate. As soon as she found that careless bitch, she had plans to use Arseni to flambé her, Vulcan Ravage Talon style.

"It's not like you to get frustrated, Strelnikov."

"It is with good reason, Hiwatari."

Taylia just kept walking, ignoring the slate-haired phoenix leaning against the tree in front of her, heading into the forest to go back to the lodge. Even Riikka wasn't obtuse enough to stay outside when it was getting dark. Her sharp hearing picked up Kai's footsteps following her.

There was something odd that she picked up when she was in training to hone her senses; one could tell a lot about a person by their footsteps. Kai's were no different. His stride was distinguished but reserved, it wasn't like he was in a rush. The heaviness of them said he was heavy enough to be relatively tall, well built and of a powerful stature, yet the way he moved so stealthily signified grace, good posture and a dignified presence.

* * *

Behind her, Kai's mind was in inner turmoil. Yes, he was following her, but more of his body's will than his mind's. Ever since their gazes clashed, something about her made him drawn to the younger phoenix. It was like his hormones suddenly decided to wake up after 17 years of unknown existence and were suddenly kicked into overdrive. 

What pissed him off even more was the fact that Dranzer was acting up as well. Every time they were within 30 feet of the younger phoenix, Dranzer would seem to temporarily disappear or start pondering aloud why the girl's aura and presence felt so familiar. It was driving both of them crazy.

However, of all the shit that was getting on his nerves, the two that took the cake were the constant urges to stare when she passed, and the way she looked at him. The chain reaction was pretty bad; every time she did something as minute as shaking her head to get her bangs out of her face, his caught himself thinking about… things. Not anything M-Rated, but physical contact in general. It was mortifying even though he was the only one who knew.

As for that second one, it more or less surprised him than pissed him off. Any other girl would look at his face and as much of his body as they could. Taylia stared him straight in the eyes, and with such brilliant, fiery eyes, it made him suddenly very self-conscious. It was like she could see right into his mind.

_Damnit, Hiwatari. You're going soft._

"Were you stalking me the whole day?" Taylia asked absentmindedly, bringing him out of his thoughts.

_Pretty much._

"Hnn."

"A yes or no would have been better."

He didn't acknowledge the comment with a reply. Taylia, in turn, just shrugged. Just watching her shoulders rise then fall brought up the wondering of what her skin felt like under his hands.

_No! Stop thinking about that already!_

**Thinking about what, Master Kai?**

_Nothing important, Dranzer. I assume you haven't gotten any ideas why her aura is so familiar._

**Just that it isn't just Taylia, it's Arseni too. I wish I could remember what it was…**

Kai sighed inwardly. If Dranzer kept this up, he was tempted to go back to Siberia and toss his blade into Lake Baikal… just for the irony of it.

"Hey, when you're done chatting with your bit beast, you can pick up the pace."

_Damnit. Dranzer, you're rubbing off on me._

**Joy. **

**

* * *

**

_Geez. I never thought I'd see the day that Hiwatari acted like a total ditz._

**Ever consider that I _don't like_ hacking into other people's heads? It's not right, it's rude, and in this case, disturbing.**

**_You're such a goody two-shoes. Besides, if that asshole lays one finger on my mistress…_**

**_OUR_**** mistress.**

**_Whatever. If he touches her, I'll slash him to ribbons myself!_**

**He won't try to hurt her. I've spoken with Dranzer before, and Kai isn't the kind of man to take advantage of someone smaller and weaker than he is.**

_Nonetheless. The last time I let my guard down, it cost me. Black Dranzer; if he does try anything, feel free to maim him to your heart's content._

**_Hmph. I'll make sure he stays in line. _**

**_

* * *

_**

"Riikka! Riikka! God fucking damn it Riikka, where are you!"

A very grouchy, very tired Drayea growled ferally in her throat for the hundredth time. As if it wasn't bad enough that it was getting cold out and she without her parka, but the fact that their youngest and most irresponsible, hotheaded blader was missing was seriously pissing her off.

"RIIKKA!"

"Hi!"

For the third time in one day, Drayea landed not so gracefully on her face in the snow when Riikka seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Where in the seven hells have you been? We've been looking for you the whole damn day!" She shouted.

"I was battling that new chick from the Majestics, Danica Arsenyev. She's _really, really_ good." Riikka replied nonchalantly.

The Finn's passive expression became slightly worried when she saw the slight twitch in the older blader's eyebrow and her hands forming the strangling position.

"I'll give you five seconds."

Riikka, already knowing what this meant, turned an about-face and bolted. Five seconds later, she could hear her enraged teammate crashing through the trees after her.

"RIIKKA!"

* * *

"Falborg, attack!" 

"Wyborg, counter!"

The two blades swerved away from one another before charging and striking again, neither one backing down.

"Finish him!"

Before Falborg had the chance to end the match, the Russian team's attention was drawn to someone shouting death threats not too far off.

"Hey, that sounds like…"

Tala was cut off when _Ugniy_ of the Four Winds shot past, almost ramming straight into him in the process of running for dear life. At the end of the clearing, she slid baseball-style under a felled tree leaning against another that was too high to jump, and just a second later, Drayea came running after her with her scythe in hand and yelling something about ripping out her intestines and spoon feeding them to her.

There was a very long pause as the threats faded away.

"_Ooookkaaaayyyy_…"

* * *

"Please tell me this is some kind of cruel joke." 

"It's not."

"I still think this is payback for forgetting to tell you where I was."

"Would you just stuff it? The less you talk, the sooner I can get this done."

Riikka huffed and folded her arms. Taylia just shook her head and continued taking the smallest girl's measurements. Even though their team captain was the biggest tomboy of all of them, Riikka had protested –rather violently- to the idea of having to wear a dress.

Much to the annoyance of the others, Taylia had been in on it the whole time with Mr. Dickenson, hence why she'd thought to bring a sewing kit, measuring tape and several bolts of cloth. Fact: Taylia was unusually good at sewing and hated shopping. It evened out though; the four would have to wear dresses, but their team captain would be the one to sew them.

_Smirk._

"Well, you better not make it pink. You do, and you die."

"Whatever you say, _Ugniy_."

* * *

**Yurii:**_ Meh. I hated how this came out. It took me days, and it sucked. Feel free to flame._

**POLL  
Which couple do you want to see start off first? **

**Kai/Taylia  
Bryan/Riikka/  
Spencer/Mitsu  
Ian/Danica  
Other?**

**Let's see what results I get. ;)**


	7. Authoress' Note: Couples Poll

**AUTHORESS' NOTE!**

_Yo' to all my faithful readers! Just to warn you, **there is a deadline for voting for couples.** So far, here are the results: _

**Kai/Taylia:** 3 **  
Bryan/Riikka:** 4 **  
Spencer/Mitsu:** 0 **  
Ian/Danica:** 1 **  
Other:** Tala/Drayea- 1

_Hurry up and cast a vote! **YOU HAVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY!**_

**-Yurii**


	8. Debts and Doubts

**Four Winds:**

**Of Debt and Doubt

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _Hello to my faithful readers! Chapter six already! In this little chappie, you get to see into the pasts of some of our feme fatales. _

_Oh, and here are the poll results! **THESE ARE FROM REVIEWS AND PRIVATE MESSAGES**  
_**Kai/Taylia: **7 **  
Bryan/Riikka: **8 **  
Spencer/Mitsu:** 0 (Feel the love) **  
Ian/Danica:** 1 **  
Other:** 2

_

* * *

_

**Review Replies**

**Mina the Mischievous:** _Thank you, thank you. _

**WhyAmIDoingThis01:** _I'm sure your story isn't as bad as you say it is, but thanks for reviewing!_

**Silvan Arrow:** _Dude, this is serious praise coming from you. I **love** your stories to pieces. -_

**Arieru:** _-bows- Thank you, thank you very much._

* * *

"Finally, that's done!" 

Riikka sighed and slid down the tree trunk she was leaning against until she was sitting on the ground. The other two bladers did the same, though not as vocally. But hey, three-way battles were fucking _hard_.

"Come on, don't tell me you're tired already. Maybe I'm not training you enough."

Riikka looked straight up to the branch above her head where Taylia was sitting with her legs and arms crossed.

"You've gotta be kidding me." She groaned. "How come _you_ never train as much as we do, Tai? It's not bloody fair."

On the other side of the clearing sitting by the beydish, Drayea chuckled to herself, eyes closed as if contemplating something funny.

"Ugniy, take a look at her and her skills. Does it _look_ like she needs it?"

Silence.

"I rest my case."

Riikka became suddenly indignant.

"But still! How can she train so little and still be able to beat the shit out of all three of us in the same battle?"

That was where Taylia put her two bits in. She jumped down from the tree branch, landing gracefully in a crouching position before drawing herself up to full height. Considering that Riikka was sitting down, she appeared very tall, thus giving the intimidating aura she was shooting at.

"Because, Riikka, I get up at unholy hours every day, train for several hours, come back and sleep another hour or two and then get all of you up to train even more. This is _nothing_ compared to what I'm doing while you're all sleeping." She replied in a coolly passive but slightly annoyed tone. "Lazy sods."

"We're not lazy, you're just nuts." Riikka retorted calmly.

"Sticks and stones, hon, sticks and stones."

* * *

"I think that's enough for the day." 

This time, Riikka didn't even have the strength to complain and simply flopped over on the ground, panting in a badly over exaggerated fashion.

"Ah, quit your bitching, Riikka. Think of it this way; all your training has paid off. Yours and Mitsu's synchronization is 100 percent _perfect_. You can predict each other's moves so well that it's impossible to find any flaw in it."

Mitsu, who was leaning heavily against a nearby pine, smirked through her panting. Hey, things like these were her area of expertise.

In order, best trait being the first, she was a specialist in speed, synchronization, and evasive tactics.

Riikka was about endurance, synchronization and attack power, which matched Ukko's element and style perfectly.

Drayea was almost invincible, as her specialties were attack power, speed, and endurance. Gundula as her partner, they made it look easy.

Taylia, however, was the strongest by far. Her top three areas of expertise were strategy, attack power and endurance, a trio that so far had her running with a record of zero defeats when combined.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, O Perfect One."

"And don't you forget it."

"And so modest, too…"

* * *

"Don't look now, but it looks like we have company." 

Riikka glanced over her shoulder and groaned. That rude idiot Garland seemed to find them _everywhere_, and it was _really_ starting to piss her off.

"Oh, it's you again."

_Go the **fuck** away._

Most of the bladers were milling around the lodge after a short presentation courtesy of Mr. Dickenson concerning the upcoming tournament, and it figured that the silver-haired idiot would run into them… yet again… for the eighth time that week. And it was still only Tuesday.

"What the hell do you want, Tzebult?" Riikka snapped. (**I fixed it thanks to the help of one reviewer. Still, WTF is with that last name?**)

To anyone with half a brain, it would be painfully obvious that Riikka was getting pissed off at the fact that he kept following them around. Sadly for Garland, he apparently was lacking that necessary half a brain.

"Oh nothing, just thought I'd walk you back to your dorm."

"If it's a dumb blonde joke you're getting at, even I'm not dumb enough to get lost on the way back."

From anywhere in the hall, one could see foreshadowing of a serious hate between two team captains. Taylia, sensing that Riikka was starting to lose her temper, drifted back from the front of her group to the back so she was almost in front of Riikka. Garland, (who was still hitting on the ram) being the cocky bastard he was, had the nerve to -lightly- slap her ass. The Finn reacted almost immediately with a yelp, but before she had the chance to whirl around and slug him a good one in the face like she so badly wanted to, her team captain had reacted even faster.

Next thing Garland knew, his feet were out from under him from an expertly executed foot swipe, and then he was being pinned to the wall by Taylia who had a crushing one-handed grip on his throat and a look of murder in her eyes.

"Just who the **fuck** do you think you are, touching my teammates! I should crush your fucking windpipe right now for that!" She snarled as her vice grip tightened.

Garland had both hands up to Taylia's in a futile attempt to pry her hand off, but by now she was far beyond just being pissed off, and he stood zero chance of fighting back at this point.

"Listen up you jerkoff, because I'm only going to say this once. **Keep your hands off my teammates.** If not, I'll castrate you in the most gruesome, painful way you can imagine. Got it?"

Her only response was a smirk; he didn't believe her. Narrowing her eyes, Taylia's death-like grip tightened even more. If she had to tauten her hold any more, she could very well break his neck. From the sidelines, Drayea mentally noted the shock in her eyes; she kept going, but it wasn't of her own will.

"Tai! Tai, stop, even if he is a perverted bastard, it's not worth it to kill him." Riikka protested from behind her furious captain, her hands trying to pull her arm away.

Taylia glowered at Garland before whirling around and hurling him down the hall with all her might, the silver haired blader landing on the ground with a THUD and skidding quite a ways back. If that was how she threw, he could easily guess that she certainly didn't _hit_ like a girl.

"Fine. You're lucky she stuck up for you, though I don't know why." Syevrniy growled. "Just remember you slime, leave the Four Winds alone _or else_."

She shot him a withering death glare before turning on her heel and storming out of sight, leaving behind quite a few gaping spectators as her team followed her in silence.

* * *

_BLACK DRANZER!_

Inside Taylia's head, both phoenixes cringed at the infuriated screech.

_**What is it, my mistress?** _

_WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT STUNT YOU PULLED BACK THERE?_

**_Your teammate was being threatened. I thought you would appreciate my help._** The dark voice crooned.

_That doesn't mean that you can use my body to try and crush someone's windpipe! I don't know how things work in your world, but in this world, killing someone will have me in jail for life! And in case you forgot, I'm trying to keep my enhancements subtle!_

Arseni shot a glare at Black Dranzer, who remained completely nonchalant.

**_Feh. It's just one pathetic human._**

**You, get out!**

Black Dranzer just sniggered to himself before receding to the confines of his bit chip. Arseni shook his head.

**One of these days…

* * *

**

**Hmph. That foolish human got what he deserved.**

_You mean that son of a bitch Garland? For once I agree._

Falborg snickered in spite of herself. After the incident last tournament where the Blitzkrieg Boys had gotten pummeled by aforementioned blader, all of them –even their bit beasts- harbored detestation for him. None of them as much as Bryan, though. Tala was a little more forgiving in the sense that he knew what it was like to be used that way, but the falcon refused to forget it.

Still, he was still a bit shaken by one thing; the alarmed look on the Finnish girl's face had brought back one memory he didn't want to remember. To put it as bluntly and lightly as possible, it was one of those reminders of some of the disgusting things a few very foolish, perverse (and possibly suicidal) Abbey scientists tried to pull over on him at a much younger, more vulnerable age. He didn't have to know the victim personally for such an action to piss him off.

_Falborg, keep an eye on her.

* * *

_

"Great, just great."

Taylia groaned, her grip on the table starting to tauten. If Drayea kept beating around the bush –so to speak-, she was going to be tempted to beat it out of her.

"Just say it already." Syevrniy growled.

Drayea sighed and took the ports connected to her laptop off of Taylia's bared arm. There was a reason she always kept them covered; of course, anyone who had scars like the ones on her arms would cover them as well. It was shameful for her just to so much as look at them.

"That little temper tantrum of yours went and activated the chips implanted throughout your muscular system. You're almost as strong as I am now."

Taylia groaned and let her head fall, hitting the table with a thud. This was just fucking perfect.

"Uh, mind explaining to us what this means?" A rather confused Mitsu asked.

"Remember how we told you about what happened to us as kids? About how we were used in experiments?" Drayea asked, receiving two nods in reply.

"Well, Taylia here was forced to undergo an operation where hundreds of tiny computer chips –less than a quarter the size of a dime- were implanted throughout her muscular structure. However, they were never activated because of a complication. Their intention was to multiply Taylia's normal physical performance, and now that she's had to use it, they've been generated and activated by the flow of adrenaline."

The others were silent.

"Put simply, when Taylia beat the crap out of Garland, she turned on the computer chips. Her physical performance is probably triple what it used to be because of the cybernetic system."

Drayea was suddenly very quiet. Taylia looked up as she put her sleeve/arm warmer back on, tightening the strap again so only her tattoo showed.

"You still remember, don't you." She asked quietly.

"Yeah…"

Riikka and Mitsu exchanged looks of understanding. It had been a tearful night when the team had first gotten together, not as a meeting, but as friends and sisters. They lived by the firm belief of _no secrets_, and just hearing the life story of one of the two older bladers was enough to make anyone want to cry for them. Hearing both, and they all cried.

* * *

They'd grown up together as best friends, Taylia and Drayea, and neither of them would let the other one take a fall by herself. Life in the Hermitage was very hard for the girls that lived there, even harder than that the boys of the Abbey underwent. What was so ironic was the fact that Boris worked under the man who started Biovolt to begin with: Alekzander Nelyubova. Voltaire had sponsored the research generously, and the income generated by victims of his loan sharks was even more impressive. 

Their eldest blader really wasn't sure that Drayea Nadina Rothstein was her name. Hell, she was only known as Wench until a naïve, 4-year-old Taylia gave her a name. Draye. It eventually turned into the name Drayea, and as she got older and more educated, she gave herself her middle and last names.

Drayea came to the Hermitage at a much younger age, around the time when she was a newborn and the damned place was still relatively new. The redheaded German didn't know a thing about where she came from except of her nationality, but from what she guessed, she was probably born to another teenage mother with nowhere to go and left on the doorstep of the bastard who would make her life a living nightmare.

At first things weren't so bad, but that was only because of the fact that she was still too young to understand the meaning of pain and suffering. The day she learned to walk was the day she began her training to become a beywarrior.

It didn't take long for her to rise through the ranks to become the number 1 student in the Hermitage, but because of her natural skill in the sport, it made her the choice subject of numerous cruel, inhumane experiments.

Because of all of it, she had Alekzander to thank for her superhuman physical and mental performance:

**Strength:** x5  
**Agility:** x4  
**Endurance:** x10  
**Pain Tolerance:** x20  
**Speed:** x3  
**Flexibility:** x2  
**IQ:** 207

Unfortunately, as "improved" as she was with all these unwanted enhancements, it caused her mentality to crumble. Drayea was fragile-minded as it was, but because the scientists were afraid of rebellion from the powerful but self-willed experiment, she was kept in solitary confinement almost all the time.

The final straw came when 10-year-old Drayea was pitted against another blader, another girl who was a year younger than she was, and who was referred to by the other girls as the Phoenix Blader. Her name was Taylia Strelnikov. She'd started off as a subtle blader, but after one battle, she had risen through the ranks at an alarming rate.

As it turned out, they were putting their two most powerful experiments against one another in the same battle. Taylia's stats weren't quite as impressive as Drayea's, though she was still a very formidable threat when faced in battle either of brawns or brains.

**Strength:** x3  
**Agility:** x3  
**Endurance:** x15  
**Pain Tolerance:** x15  
**Speed:** x3  
**Flexibility:** x3  
**IQ:** 195

In only a matter of four or five minutes, Taylia had decided to use her famous Armageddon strategy; she immediately called on her Heavy Offense attack the Omni Pyro Lance and had torched Drayea's blade. The only thing that hadn't been reduced to a charred, twisted chunk of metal was the bit chip. Drayea, shocked, did nothing to fight back as she was dragged off to be punished. Gundula was left in the dish.

Drayea was left in her cell, probably expected to bleed to death. Taylia broke in without tripping the alarm to patch her up and return Gundula's bit chip. From there on out, those two bladed as a team. However, because of all the time she spent in solitary confinement, Drayea became deathly fearful of the dark.

* * *

Taylia had come to the Hermitage at a later age, about 3 years old or so. Unlike Drayea, who knew nothing about her parents, hers sold her to Alekzander for 650k in rubles. Taylia's father would later invest it all and grow to become the CEO of a huge racing company. 

However, while her father was getting filthy rich, Taylia was forced into training the day after she arrived. She took to it so quickly that by the time she was 5 years old, she was beating bladers of all ages. However, she was very stubborn and rebellious by nature, thus she was often punished. She knew that if she cried or screamed it would be worse, which was why today she was a master of disguising her true inner emotions, especially pain.

Unlike most of the girls in the Hermitage who were provided a bit beast or never had one, Taylia had no bit beast up until she was 8 years old. Arseni chose her when Taylia was in the middle of a 10-on-1 match and losing badly. All ten of her competitors had bit beasts and had cornered her and gotten her to battle. One attack that was meant to kill was aimed directly at her, but seemingly out of nowhere, Arseni appeared in a burst of flames and finished all 10 of the bladers off with its Heavy Offense attack, the infamous Omni Pyro Lance.

From there on out, Taylia and Arseni became the invincible duo, and it was for this reason that Alekzander favored her. However, that generally led to the list of times she was sexually assaulted which lead up to the operation that made her permanently infertile and unable to become pregnant. There was one case where Drayea, who was nearby at the time, stepped in and pummeled the guard assaulting her into a coma… literally. Taylia had seen Drayea only a few times before, but that was what sealed their friendship.

Neither of the two got out of the Hermitage until Taylia was 13 and Drayea was 14. It was thanks to a massive surge of power from Arseni's and Gundula's combined attacks, which later became their greatest tag-team attack: it was called the **_Tempest Infernal Talon._**

However, there was a down side to their powerful attack; a large part of the corridor they were standing in when they unleashed it collapsed, and Taylia had to carry a badly injured Drayea all the way out while sustaining her own damage.

It was right after they escaped that word had gotten around that a certain Russian boy from the Abbey had blown half of it up with a dark bit beast called Black Dranzer. Taylia knew all too well what could happen if that bit beast stayed with Boris. Only a week after the attack, she broke into the Abbey and stole Black Dranzer.

It had taken years of work for Taylia to erase as many of Drayea's emotional scars as she could, but it got easier when she tracked down her biological father. At the time, he sponsored a team called the Speed Demons, which was how she found Riikka, who was a mechanic. However, her father was suffering from heart problems and passed away less than a week after Taylia found him.

* * *

It was the knowledge of all this that made it impossible for Riikka to be mad at Taylia for overreacting. She was only trying to protect her teammate from something that reminded her of something that caused her a lot of pain. She couldn't blame her for that, and more than anything, she respected her. 

Actually, it was one of the many reasons that they_ all_ admired her. Taylia took her roll as team captain very seriously; as she so finely put it, she wasn't just there to be their leader. It was her responsibility to watch out for them and protect them to the best of her physical ability, which was already very great. She didn't want anyone's pity, much less any attempt at empathy. All she asked of her teammates was for their best in the beystadium and their companionship when their fellow Four Winds needed it, and in return she would remain as their loyal team captain until the bitter end.

And for that, they all had nothing but the utmost respect for her.

"Shit…" Taylia groaned, still lightly banging her head against the table.

Drayea sighed and looked sadly down at her team captain who suddenly stopped moving her head before bringing up her fist and slamming it down onto the table, splitting it in half. She was already very strong as it was, but now that it had tripled, Taylia's superhuman strength would become much harder to gauge.

"Damn it…"

The griffin felt so bad for her team captain; she did so much for them, but all it seemed she ever got in return was pain. It had gotten pretty ugly when they'd encountered Riikka's very angry and drunken father: she almost killed him after pulling a flying roundhouse kick to the head to keep him away from her terrified teammate.

_No, from now on it's my turn to do something for her. I owe her my life and my bit beast…_

Eyes of frozen turquoise followed their team captain's back as she retreated into her room. Just having her around was a constant reminder of how she owed Taylia her life… twice.

**Gundula, keep an eye on her. I get the feeling I'll be repaying her sooner than we think…

* * *

**

**Yurii:**_ Meh. I hated how this came out. Feel free to flame._

**Poll:  
Is there anything in this fic that you think is Mary Sue-ish?  
Yes  
No  
A few things  
I don't know**


	9. Important Note

Hello to all my loyal readers and reviews. I'm posting again so soon because I may not update for a while.

I live in a broken household, and to make things as blunt as I can, my so-called family is going through a tragedy; so to speak, I no longer have a little sister or a mom.

I'm really, truly sorry, but I need to take a break, maybe for a week or two. My heart's really not into writing right now.

-Yurii


	10. Turning Up the Heat

**Four Winds**

**Turning Up the Heat **

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _Hey, it's me again. Sorry it took so long to update, but I'm kind of going through a tragedy right now and I haven't really had the heart to do much writing. Anyways..._

_-Evil smirk- Remember those idiots from Chapter 6? They're in for some torture courtesy of a certain Russian brunette. __And since it was so close in the polls between Bryan/Riikka and Kai/Taylia, I'm gonna be nice and give you some action with the phoenixes. _

_

* * *

_

"C'mon, pick up the pace, you lazy pansies!"

"But we've run 25 laps already!"

"Keep whining and I'll make it 50!"

"But it _hurts_!"

"Pain is just a four letter word, it means nothing."

Her reply was four groans. As it turned out –though she was not surprised- those four idiots who had been picking on her the other day had been stupid enough to pull the same stunt twice, and she found out about it.

They had been up since 5 am when she came to their doorways in the dark and telling their parents that she was their blading coach. They took it hook, line and sinker. Some of the kids' parents seemed eager to get them out of the house.

"Done…"

The kid called Franz flopped to the ground at her feet, exhausted and later followed by Maas, then the other two boys Kaarlo and Flynn.

"You guys are pathetic. My team finishes in half the time it took you, and they sleep less than you lazy sods do." She growled, folding her arms.

"Yeah right." Flynn muttered skeptically.

Maas and Kaarlo grumbled along with him, though Franz staid silent. He'd been the sensible one who'd tried to talk Maas out of the stupid idea of taking her on in the first place.

"For that little comment, you can drop and give me 100."

"WHAT?"

Taylia shot all of them a withering glare, and it seemed almost instant that they got into the position and started doing push-ups as fast as they could. The Russian girl smirked. It was a lot easier to get them to listen than she had thought.

"About time you finished."

More groaning.

"Alright, now we get to the battling. The clearing will work fine. Kaarlo and Flynn, you go first. Show me your stances and wait for me to give the okay to launch."

Taylia leaned against one of the evergreens on the sidelines, eyes adjusted to the dark as she watched the two boys get into their blading stances. Almost immediately, she stood upright again.

"Hold it!"

Walking first over to Flynn, she lowered his arms.

"You're supposed to aim your blade at the battlefield, not your opponent's head. Not that you'd be able to reach him with that kind of stance." She nudged one foot back further and the other one farther out with her boot. "If you stand like that, you'll get a lot more power when you pull out the ripcord."

Walking over to Kaarlo, she did the same thing with his aim.

"Your stance is even worse than Flynn's. You're supposed to have a wide stance, not just stand upright. You'll have almost no power in your launch, and as soon as you pull that ripcord, you'll topple over."

She walked out to the middle of their battleground and pulled out her own launcher, already loaded.

"Watch my stance."

Taylia got into her signature blader's stance; she had one foot in front with the toe of her boot pointing out and her other foot aligned with her shoulder, toe facing out. Both her knees were bent enough to give her a good sense of balance.

"This is a basic stance, but it works. It takes practice to get the launch right, but once you do…" Whipping out the ripcord, Taylia sent her blade careening at a nearby tree, smashing the trunk to splinters and watching it topple backwards into the other trees. "It'll be a lot better of a launch."

Getting out of the way, she rejoined Maas and Franz on the sidelines.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIIIPP!"

* * *

"You four are pitiful bladers. Maas, I expected _a lot_ better of you and your bit beast. You're lucky we didn't battle the other day, otherwise Arseni would have flambéed your Troester." 

The four boys didn't even have the strength left to groan. All of them were sprawled out on the ground or leaning against a tree, and the only thing they were thinking about was the four hours of training that were finally over. Taylia sighed in exasperation and sat down, not even fazed.

"Alright, let's have a look at your blades."

She easily caught Flynn's blade that was carelessly tossed to the back of her head, followed by Kaarlo's, Maas' and Franz's. As she examined each of their blades, the frown on her face deepened until she finally spoke.

"These blades are the cheapest pieces of junk I've ever seen! What is this? Aluminum attack rings?" She rubbed her temples. "You guys need serious help."

Fed up, Maas sat upright to glare at the Russian.

"You think it's our fault that we have those crappy parts? It's not like we can afford those real parts down at the local beyblade shop!" He protested.

Taylia wasn't amused, if the skeptical raised eyebrow was any indication.

"In that case, get yourselves some jobs. Obviously if you had the time to pick on other bladers in the streets, you have time to try and earn some wages."

The boys were silent, registering what she'd just said. As much as they hated to admit it, she was right. Sensing their lack of enthusiasm, she sighed again.

"Tell you what, I'll make you all a deal." She began. "If you four prove to me that you're serious bladers and can raise half the money for parts, I'll match it and bring back the kinds of beyblade parts the pros use. They're sold up at the lodge, and I can bring back a receipt so you have an idea of how much you need."

That got their attention.

"Seriously? None of those cheap parts?"

Taylia smirked.

"Kid, we're talking steel and titanium alloy, the kinds of metals used in Hard Metal System blades. Lightweight, effective and virtually indestructible."

Maas exchanged looks with his friends.

"No tricks?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die. You know the rest."

She held out her hand to shake, her expression now a smirk. Maas looked at her hand, up at her, then at her hand again before shaking.

"Alright. Now go home and rest up. I'll be back after tomorrow."

* * *

A will is something a person writes as they're dying, leaving behind items of sentimental and economic value when they are no longer of this earth. It's meant to be a serious last gesture to the people deemed worthy of inheriting one's items. However, Taylia was laughing when she thought of what hers would look like. 

_3, 2, 1…_

"**TAYLIA**!"

_Right on cue._

"Yes?"

"Godammit Taylia didn't I ask you NO PINK?"

Drayea and Mitsu were silent, unsure of what was going on, but as soon as a fuming Riikka stepped into the room, it took whatever willpower they had not to burst out laughing.

"It's not pink, Riikka, it's magenta! You know, reddish-purple."

"IT'S. PINK."

Taylia was smirking openly now. Sure, she could have been nice, but where was the fun in that? Besides, it was Riikka's own fault for forgetting that Taylia was a master at finding loopholes.

"Ah, stop it Riikka. I think it looks nice. You actually look like you have a figure." Drayea put in with a smirk.

She received a dark glare in response. Riikka, being the youngest, was obviously not as mature as the others, but physically she appeared to be several years behind all of them. As far as anyone knew, the only thing puberty had changed in the Finnish girl was her height, but even then she hadn't gotten much taller in the past two years from her original 5'2". She still had yet to grow the feminine hourglass figure, chest and voice of a matured woman. And, as Drayea _loved_ to point out, the brain capacity.

It was enough to make the ram want to go on the warpath.

"_Che_, like you would know, Drayea." Riikka shot back dryly.

The German girl just shrugged. It wasn't like she was complaining; Taylia had made her dress midnight blue. It wasn't half bad actually; it was made of silk and was a simple single-strap dress that came down to just above her ankles. There were slits on either side that came up to just above her knees; it was just right, modest but flattering. As the other three had pointed out, Drayea had a very nice figure, and the fact that her team captain (though against her wishes) had made it form-fitting brought it to light.

Riikka wasn't so fortunate because of the color, but other than that, it really wasn't that bad. Her dress was (as previously mentioned) magenta, and it was a halter top as the Finn had requested. Hers came down to her knees and had no slits in the sides. Thankfully for Riikka, Taylia had also decided to make it form-fitting.

Mitsu had been smart enough to bring her own dress even though she despised the thing; then again, it was better than risking Taylia's loopholes. Hers was silk, designed like her shirt, but instead it had short sleeves and a full skirt instead of loincloth ends. It was crimson with gold lining the oriental-style collar and sleeves as well as the ends of the dress. The slits in the legs went up to her mid-thigh.

Taylia, however, was a sight for sore eyes especially if you were of the male persuasion. Her dress was almost the same as Drayea's except that the single strap was on the other shoulder (her left- Drayea's was on the right) and came up at a steeper angle. It too reached down to just above her ankles, but embroidered on the bottom was a crimson, gold, black and ivory phoenix that looked unusually like Arseni. The slits in the sides came almost up to her hips, showing off a pair of shapely, smooth legs.

Drayea took note that Taylia had on her fingerless black gloves, the ones that reached all the way up her arms.

"Well, now that we've all had time to gawp, I want to get out of this thing!" Riikka growled.

She failed to notice the glare shot at the back of her head from the dress' maker.

"Consider yourself lucky we get it over with tomorrow night." Mitsu replied with a self-righteous grin. She was taking every opportunity she got to rub it in Riikka's face that she had brought her own.

"I _hate_ you."

The Japanese girl had the nerve to look smug.

* * *

Drayea lay awake, hands behind her head and staring up at the ceiling. It was unusual for her to be awake this late; normally she was a morning person. It was Taylia who was cursed with nocturnal tendencies. Of course, it was Taylia who was keeping her awake. The still-distraught phoenix was groaning and whimpering in her sleep; she was having another nightmare. The griffin sighed despondently. Taylia seemed so very vulnerable when she was having nightmares; it was so out of character for her, being such a strong young woman. 

_I wish I could help you, Tai, just like you helped me. _

_

* * *

_

"_C'mon you little bitch! I wanna hear you scream!" _

_The guard's only response was a loathing, fiery-eyed glare. If looks could kill, she'd have stared him through a thousand reincarnations. The whip in the guard's hand was permanently stained crimson from her blood; that was the price she paid for being so self-willed. It made the other girls think, and they didn't need that. _

_Not there. _

_The guard scowled when the teenager didn't react. Her torn back was bleeding profusely already, hiding the scars that marred most of her body. The 13-year-old said nothing. She had both her hands shackled to the wall by a short chain so she was facing the cold stone, and that too was forever tainted with blood. Everything in this hellhole was stained with blood. _

"_Bloody bitch…" _

_Taylia only graced the lash of the whip with a flinch and grunt of pain. No matter how much or how hard anyone hit her, she didn't scream, nor did she cry, which usually resulted in her receiving much more severe punishments than the other girls. _

"_That's enough, Vlad." _

_Taylia scowled as the shackles on her wrists clicked open thanks to the surveillance personnel and their control panel. She could easily have torn the damned restraints off, but the loss of blood was causing her body temperature to drop. It took a good deal of her willpower to fight waves of vertigo. _

"_Well Ms. Taylia, have we learned our lesson?" _

_The phoenix's scowl darkened. _

"_Go fuck a dog up its ass." _

_She could practically hear the bemused smirk on Alekzander's ugly face. _

"_Watch your mouth, young lady. You're lucky I'm in a good mood and let you off." _

_Taylia, slightly delirious with pain, turned around with a mocking smirk on her face obviously with a sarcastic retort. _

"_Oh you were, were you? Thank you so much, I feel so very loved." She sneered. "Excuse me while I leap for joy." _

_Alekzander wasn't amused this time and just watched her as she staggered towards the door, leaning heavily against the wall. _

"_Don't forget, I own you. You do as I say, and the next time you disobey me, I'll do nothing short of your worst nightmare." _

_Taylia scoffed. _

"_Please, just living down here is hell enough. You couldn't possibly make it worse." _

_Before he could retort, she stumbled out into the hall. _

_Discussions and battles all came to a silent halt as footsteps echoed in the halls. It was obvious Taylia had done something stupid again to land herself with another session to have the living shit whipped out of her. Countless pairs of eyes, all filled with respect and wonder at the insanely brave phoenix. _

"_Just who do you think you are?" _

_Well, all but one. _

_Taylia weakly looked up to the girl who'd spoken. A 7th year. Amusing. She was either 14 or 15, the 7th years' age group, and was standing in front of her like she owned the place. She just stared at her intently. _

"_Who the hell do you think you are, parading the halls every time you get beaten? It's not like it's that hard to live through! Are you looking for attention, because it's pathetic!" _

_The phoenix shot her a withering glare that had the girls around her cowering under her gaze. Anyone who knew Taylia knew that when she was pissed off and weary, heads would roll if anyone provoked her. _

"_Pfft. I could care less about who sees unlike you, who has to confront me for her 5 minutes of fame. Do you know why I walk these halls after losing half my blood?" She paused for effect. "Because if I keep walking, I know I'll live. If I lie down, I know that if I let my eyes close then they won't open again. I don't know what you do when you're in my condition, but when you're punished like I am, you'll see why I need to keep going." _

_Without even another word, Taylia continued on her way, the indignant girl now quiet and staring after the bleeding back of the younger girl. In the eyes of the others, there was nothing but admiration. _

_As Taylia shut the metal door to her room, she collapsed against the wall on her side, hissing in pain at the whip wounds on the backs of her arms and everywhere else on her back. It hurt like hell, and she was amazed that her skin cells could keep regenerating. _

"_It hurts… it hurts…" _

_

* * *

_

"It hurts…"

Drayea winced at her team captain's whimpering. She just seemed so helpless it made her want to cry for her. And that was what she did.

* * *

"You're taking the day off, and that's final." 

Taylia shot the West Wind blader a glare, but she remained unfazed.

"There's nothing wrong with me, and goddammit I'm going to train today whether you like it or not."

Their defiant team captain didn't have the chance to argue back. Drayea merely shrugged at the response before grabbing the surprised phoenix and dragging her into the den, throwing her in, slamming the door shut and bolting out with Mitsu and Riikka in close pursuit, making sure to lock the doors from the outside as they left the dorms. From anywhere within about half a mile's radius, one could hear the enraged cursing of a very pissed-off Russian.

* * *

"You what?" 

"Ya heard me right. We locked her in our dorm. She can get out of the room, but nowhere past the hall."

Danica fixed Drayea with a look that could be interpreted as either amused or just disbelieving. Riikka and Mitsu, now without their team captain, were free to laugh at said phoenix's expense. She looked over at the dorm.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that all those languages she's shouting in are either curses or death threats." Danica muttered with a broad grin.

The other three turned to look down the snow-patched hill to the dorm where Taylia could still be heard cussing them all out in the 43 languages she spoke, apparently right now in Czech.

"_Podržte mě bez už tě mám do prdele čubka_!" **(1)**

"All in favor of challenging and beating the crap out of another team, say charge!" Danica shouted, one fist in the air.

Silence.

"You guys suck."

* * *

"I'm going to kill all of them when they get back…" 

Taylia gave up shouting; it was going to make her hoarse. Sure, she could effortlessly break down the door, but she really didn't need the whole _responsibility_ speech from the old geezer.

Sighing in defeat, she stalked into the bathroom and ran the tap on the bathtub to hot, pulling off her clothes as steam filled up the room and fogged the mirrors and glass. Still, she sighed. She didn't have to see with a mirror the fact that the body that was covered by the fabric was now bared, revealing countless scars of past nightmares.

_And how I remember them… _

_

* * *

_

Silence is golden, and for the past hour the crimson and gold-eyed phoenix was in heaven. As much as she _hated_ to admit it, Drayea had been right about her needing to take the day off. She was still lying there in the bathtub, the glass doors shut, and she was staring thoughtfully at the black, green and red blade in her dripping hand.

Black Dranzer HMS, however, remained completely dry. The dark phoenix's bit chip was dull, a sign that the bit beast that resided in it was either asleep or off doing god-knows-what. Her newly-upgraded Arseni HMS Stratawas sitting in the case provided by the door, waiting for its mistress to put it to use or on the workbench for the next upgrade of attack ring she had in mind for it.

It seemed too hard to believe that she'd actually broken into the Abbey and stolen it right out from under Boris' nose. Either he was getting careless, or she didn't give herself enough credit for her skills. Somehow, she had a feeling it was the latter.

Getting up out of the water, she pulled the plug on the drain and got out only to find that the room was freezing cold, and it felt even colder because she was still wet.

"Damn it."

The thermostat was out in the hall, she remembered. Growling inwardly, she grabbed the nearest towel, forgetting to put down Black Dranzer as she marched out of the bathroom, plotting the death of whoever turned down the heat.

* * *

For probably the hundredth or thousandth time that morning, Kai let out an exasperated sigh. Ian had been stupid enough to get himself sick after challenging Danica to a rematch. 

To make it simple, all she had to do was attack with Kazic, and the water did the rest. One word; Shrimpcicle. Kai had been made to stay behind because he was really the only one who could control the Shrimp and his "hobby" of going through whatever nook and cranny he could find and see if he could blow it up.

"Yo Kai, could ya turn up the heater? I'm freezing." Ian groaned from his place on the top bunk in his room down the hall.

Having nothing better to do, he got up and stalked to the door, slamming it shut only to wish he hadn't. Already turning up the heat was Taylia, but there were several things he couldn't keep his eyes from.

1) She was standing in the hallway with only a towel on

2) Her long, dark hair was down

3) She was soaking wet

He couldn't help but let his eyes wander; he'd only seen her training once or twice, but if she did things like that every day –push-ups, sit-ups and a number of martial arts mantras- it made perfect sense that she had a body like that. Of course, it really didn't help his raging hormones or the mental images running through his head.

"Any reason you didn't get dressed before coming outside?" He asked, barely managing to cover the waver in his voice.

That was where she made mistake number 1: she turned around. Her bangs, still dripping, were hanging in her face in a very sexy way.

"If your wandering eyes are any indication, my guess is that you'll agree with me when I say I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Eyeing her arms, he raised an eyebrow. Were those marks on her arms… scars? Kai slapped himself mentally for eyeing her up, but quickly forgot the notion when his eyes fell on her hand.

* * *

Taylia stared at Kai's face, following his eyes to her hand. 

_Shit._

She'd completely forgotten that she had Black Dranzer in her hand the whole time. Mistake number 2. Kai's eyes narrowed in a stern glare.

"Where did you get that?"

"That's not your concern, Hiwatari."

Kai's glare became colder as he advanced a step.

"Tell me where you got that beyblade, Strelnikov." He growled.

Taylia's pupils narrowed into slits, turning her gaze from cold to a fiery hawk-like glare. Neko-jins' eyes had nothing on hers.

"You can't tell me what to say." She growled back, baring a fang-like canine.

Before she had the chance to react, Kai had roughly grabbed the wrist with her free hand in a vice-like grip and slammed her against the wall.

"Goddammit Strelnikov, tell me where you got Black Dranzer!"

Much to Kai's surprise, when she looked up at him again, her eyes had lost their fierce hawkish look and were now wide as if she were afraid of him, just like a cornered animal. It wasn't like her- it was almost like she thought he was going to try and force himself on her or something.

"Well?"

She winced visibly when his grip tightened. Before she could say anything, a furious, echoing shriek filled the air as the beyblade in Taylia's other hand was surrounded by a furious black aura before the dark phoenix himself emerged from it, as tall as the ceiling and almost large enough to burst through it.

Kai backed away as its spirit form moved its wings forward, shielding Taylia against its chest from Kai. From behind Black Dranzer's armored wings, Taylia only stared at him with that bewildered look. The dark phoenix fixed him with a glare that made him shiver visibly.

**_Keep your filthy hands off my mistress, you pathetic human scum!_** The dark voice hissed, venom and hatred dripping from his words.

Much to the surprise of the bladers, it was Dranzer's turn to take form in the hallway, not as large as Black Dranzer but twice as furious.

**YOU! What in the name of the gods are you doing here!**

**_That's none of your concern. Just keep your master away from my mistress lest I decide to kill him for laying hand on my mistress!_**

**You will not lay a claw on Master Kai!**

**_Then tell _****him_ not to lay hand on my Mistress Taylia!_**

The two phoenixes shot one another hating glares before retreating to their blades, though Black Dranzer's aura remained surrounding his mistress in an almost possessive manner. Taylia just slowly backed up into the door to her team's dorm, her wrist starting to bruise as she turned and quickly shut the door. As she did so, Kai gasped as he caught sight of her arms, back and the backs of her legs.

They were all covered in scars, and they were just like his own.

Made by a whip.

_She just keeps getting more and more puzzling. _

_

* * *

_

**(1) Let me out of here you fucking bitches! **

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _O.O Whoa… Taylia has one nasty temper. Tell me how you liked/hated it!_


	11. Plans

**Four Winds**

**Plans **

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:**_ Wassup peeps! I'm back! _

**_I found an error in the girls' nicknames. Here are the correct versions.  
_Taylia- Syevyerniy  
Drayea- Zapadno  
Riikka- Uzhniy  
Mitsu- Vostoshniy**

_The first half of this chappie is going to be mostly humorous, then serious. Onward! _

**

* * *

**

"Nervous?"

"Very."

"Terrified?"

"Definitely."

"Do you know how much fun I'm having rubbing it in your face that you brought this upon yourself?"

"Shut up."

Danica smirked triumphantly at the much taller blader's misery. She _was_ enjoying herself in tormenting Drayea with the inevitable truth. As soon as their room door opened, Taylia was going to go Armageddon on all their doomed asses.

"So, do you want a fancy funeral or a simple one?"

"Fairly simple, and make sure Gundula is left to someone trustworthy or buried with me… 20 feet under."

"Will do."

Mitsu and Riikka exchanged glances, left in the cold as to what would happen to them. They were pretty sure that Taylia knew the whole thing was entirely Drayea's evil scheme, but one could never be too careful around their team captain. Taylia had the tendency to spit fire when she was especially pissed off, and sometimes it would be taken to an almost literal extent. It was very scary.

"I don't believe this!"

"What?"

"She's waiting in front of the door!"

Danica had both hands clamped over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Drayea was on her hands and knees on the floor looking under the door, hissing news bulletins in a harsh whisper. The situation wasn't really what was funny, it was the fact that Danica had been right when she pointed out how dead she was.

"Shit…"

"Now what?"

"She's sharpening her scythe."

It took both Riikka's and Mitsu's hands to keep Danica quiet, who by now was just about asphyxiating with the effort it took not to laugh.

"We might be here a while…"

**

* * *

**

"Well, I'll give her this much, she's very patient."

"Shut. Up."

Danica had long since left; it had been a good three or four hours since they came back to the dorm, and it was getting late. Taylia was sitting in an armchair she pulled up, her scythe launcher resting in her lap. Drayea, Riikka and Mitsu were all sitting on the ground leaning against the wall while the German girl was trying to cook up a plan that would keep her from being pummeled into the next life.

"Damn it, doesn't she ever give up?"

"What the **hell **are you doing?"

Startled, Drayea shot up from her spot looking under the door, slamming her head into the doorknob with a **BAM!** Her hands immediately went to the pained spot as she turned around and glared at Tala, who was smirking down at her.

"_Fuck!_ What the _hell_ was that for, Ivanov?" She hissed in a harsh whisper.

"No need to whisper, _Zapadno_. I know you've been out there for 4 hours." Taylia said with a smug tone from behind the door. She could practically _hear_ the smirk on her face.

"Three and a half!" She shot back lamely. "Ha!"

Several sweatdrops appeared. Bryan and Spencer looked on in amusement as Drayea stood up, drawing herself up to her full height of 5'8" –which wasn't much shorter than Tala's 6'0"- to glare at the wolf blader.

"And would it _kill_ you not to sneak up on me? I'm edgy enough as it is."

He cocked an eyebrow and folded his arms in an amused manner, now smirking widely.

"Spill. What did you do?"

Drayea groaned and hung her head.

"I told Taylia to take the day off. She didn't want to, so I locked her in the dorm, but now she's sitting right behind the door to our room with her scythe ready to disembowel me." She growled.

Spencer was now sniggering right along with Mitsu and Riikka, though Bryan merely rolled his eyes finding the whole thing to be very stupid.

"Lovely. Well, you have fun with that."

Tala turned on his heel to go, but was stopped when Drayea grabbed the collar of his jacket.

"Hold it right there. Since you're the reason I probably knocked off a few IQ points when I hit my head, _you're_ gonna help me."

Rather than whining, Tala just smirked in response.

"Oh? And why should I listen to you?"

Drayea raised an eyebrow. Mitsu and Riikka scooted away a few inches, receiving a few questioning looks from the Blitzkrieg Boys. They both knew that when Drayea gave anyone that look, she had already hatched a scheme to get what she was after. It was one of those perks that came with having an IQ over 200.

"Because, if you don't…"

She leaned in so she was speaking in his ear only loud enough for him to hear. Tala blanched slightly.

"Okay, okay."

Drayea smirked.

"Now that's more like it. Okay, here's what we do…"

**

* * *

**

From inside the room, Taylia smirked. She knew Drayea was putting together some weird idea to keep from getting mauled. Just for the effect, she dragged the whet stone in her hand _slowly_ over the scythe blade, making a scraping sound loud enough for the griffin to hear.

"Wolborg, Howling Tempest!"

"Gundula, Arctic Circle!"

One eyebrow went up, her expression showing she was confused as to why the two had set their bit beasts in the hall. Either they were _really_ stupid, or Drayea had something up her sleeve. She smirked at the thought of it being the former.

She was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts as the door was kicked forcefully open courtesy of Tala, her reflexes reacting immediately and causing her to spring towards the door, scythe still in hand, ready to pummel the living daylights out of her teammate. However, she noticed too late that the entire hallway was now slick with an inch-thick sheet of ice. Unfortunately, having been in a spur of the moment thing, Drayea had forgotten to move out of the way and was flying tackled right into the wall. The result looked like something jacked out of a Looney Tunes cartoon.

Picture this in slow motion. Taylia came flying through the doorway at some 30 miles an hour (as Drayea mentioned once before; getting flying-tackled by Taylia was about the equivalent of getting hit by a bus) and tackled Drayea head-on. Tala, who hadn't moved completely out of the way, tried to run but got nowhere from the lack of traction from standing on the ice. Drayea and Taylia crashed into him, all three skidding into the other side of the hall with enough force to crack the ice on impact. The chain reaction caused Riikka to lose her balance and land flat on her ass on the ground. Mitsu and Spencer started to fall off balance when Spencer grabbed her arm and pulled her against his chest to steady them both.

(**Bet you thought I was going to have her land on top of him, nyet? ;)** )

Drayea, Tala and Taylia crashed through the Blitzkrieg Boys' door, passing Kai who was repairing his Dranzer, and disappearing into the den. The phoenix looked up as a loud crashing sound came from the den a second later, likely that they had broken something. A moment later, three very dizzy and migraine-ridden bladers staggered out of the den. Kai raised an eyebrow, not noticing Ian who had come out of his room to see what all the ruckus was. Said shrimp smirked when he saw the damage.

"You could have just knocked."

Drayea did the honors of smacking him in the back of the head as she passed and getting a smirk from the slate-haired blader, Taylia shaking her scythe launcher at him menacingly and stalking back to the Four Winds' room, looking very smug in her work. The hallway remained coated with an inch-thick sheet of ice.

_Pause._

All it took were those 60 seconds for the other 4 bladers to return to reality. Mitsu and Spencer were especially surprised by their predicament. Both of them quickly stepped away from one another, refusing to make eye contact. Mitsu was turning red, getting a very wide smirk from Riikka who was still sitting on the ground by the doorway where the door itself had been pretty much smashed off its hinges.

"Well, that was... interesting..."

**

* * *

**

"HIYA! HYA!"

The gym was completely deserted except for one raging furious, brunette phoenix who was mercilessly pummeling the stuffing out of a red EVERLAST punching bag. By now, she'd put her fists and feet through it enough times to make it resemble Swiss cheese. Wait, scratch that. It put Swiss cheese _to shame_. She had reason to be pissed off. First the whole taking-the-day-off thing, then the incident in the hallway with Kai and Black Dranzer... putting into consideration that her element was fire, all of it _really_ didn't help her temper.

She was still berating herself for letting him see the scars that had been left behind so many years ago. Taylia didn't doubt that he too probably bore similar marks, but nonetheless, it was humiliating. This time, she'd taken the liberty of putting on a black tank top and black, cropped sweats, her hands and arms bound in bandages to cover the scars on her arms but still show her tattoo. Her usual armored boots were absent and replaced with athletic tape.

"I had a feeling that it was you down here."

_Speak of the devil and the devil walks in._

"What the fuck do you want, Hiwatari?" She snapped, not bothering to look at him as she unscrewed the cap on her water bottle.

"I don't think I need to repeat myself."

Taylia growled under her breath. He just didn't know when to give up.

"It doesn't matter how many times you _do _repeat yourself, _my _answer remains the same: _it's none of your damn business._"

She heard a frustrated sigh, earning a smirk from her. It was just another one of the qualities she possessed that could be either good or bad depending on the situation. In this case, her stubbornness. Normally it got her into trouble. Now, it was getting an opponent blader impatient. Irony wasn't all bad...

"I'm going to keep asking you until I get an answer."

"Hope you have a long time, because _I'm not telling you_."

She heard his footsteps get closer, but this time instead of being afraid, rage kicked up her adrenaline enough to whirl around a full 180 degrees and swing a head-height roundhouse kick at his head. Kai only barely managed to duck in time, obviously not expecting her reflexes to kick in so fast.  
Taylia shot him a glare from her fighting stance; legs spread a little wider than the span of her shoulders, weight balanced on the balls of her feet, and both hands in the ready position in front of her; surprisingly, they weren't in fists, just loose and up, ready to defend or attack.

"I think it's only fair to warn you, you caught me off guard last time. I'm a hell of a lot stronger than I look." She growled.

He could see even with her hands obscuring her face, Taylia's eyes were taking on that same fierce, retaliatory hawk-like appearance, but this time instead of cold anger, it was raw adrenaline. It was only thanks to his sharp, honed senses did he realize it when she moved from her stance, dancing around on the balls of her feet and waiting for a strike, hands up like a boxer's.

**Master Kai, she obviously knows what she's doing. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?** Dranzer questioned, her tone suggesting slight concern.

_She has answers and I intend to find out what they are._

Dranzer had no time to retort; Kai had already focused his attention back to Taylia, who had just swung a close-to-invisible left hook at his face.

_Damnit, she's fast… _

**

* * *

**

Smirking in turn, Kai removed his scarf and vest to keep them out of the way, lazily putting his fists up in an almost playful manner. It was obvious he still wasn't taking Taylia seriously, and it was really starting to piss her off.

_Cocky bastard._

Her hands balled into fists as she rained down hooks and crosses **(1)**, all of which Kai was blocking easily. He probably thought she was trying to really hit him… bah. This was just like one of her hundreds of blading strategies: strike the opponent, figure out their limits and/or weak spot, then rain down attacks with speed and power. Not as effective as the Armageddon strategy she was known for, but it would do.

She snapped out of her thoughts of strategy when she noticed a tiny error in one block made for a right jab: Kai put up the wrong hand as defense.

_Gotcha. _

**

* * *

**

Kai was more than surprised when Taylia suddenly lunged, barraging him with jabs and crosses even faster than the punches she'd been using before. Having almost no time to think, he put his arms up in a defensive cross over his face… the opening she'd been looking for.  
Luckily for Kai, his reflexes were much better than his ability to block jabs as he jumped back when she swung a straight kick at his chest. Taylia lunged forward again, still throwing punches with amazing speed. He knew she couldn't keep it up, but then again, neither could he…. It was almost as if she were as strong as he was.

**

* * *

**

Taylia barely managed to duck when Kai finally threw a roundhouse out of the blue. She smirked.

"About time, Hiwatari. I was starting to get bored."

He just growled in response and kicked off his shoes, shifting into a fighting stance. This was the fight she was after.  
A blader's beyblade was an extension of their person, and if she kept him fighting long enough she stood a chance of finding out his attack patterns. Of course, he could do the same, which was one of the reasons why she had so many different strategies.

Taylia suddenly dropped down, swinging a sweeping drop-kick at Kai's ankles. He easily jumped back and avoided the blow, but she landed a solid kick to his chest when the foot that performed the sweeping drop-kick planted itself on the ground, and using the torque of her twisted body brought her other foot around and up to land the blow. It was a signature move, one she intended to teach Riikka to use on Garland.

_Smirk._

The leer was erased from her face when her lightning-fast reflexes brought her left forearm up to shield her face from a right cross… unfortunately, the punch made contact with her bruised wrist, drawing a slight wince from her. High pain tolerance or not, Taylia bruised easily, and she **_hated_** it.

**

* * *

**

Seizing the opportunity, Kai used the fist that had thrown the punch to grab Taylia's hurt wrist fast enough to put her in an arm bar and slam her face-first against the gym's mirrored wall. Taylia snarled ferally, struggling to get out of his vice-like hold. His other hand had grabbed her other wrist and pinned it to the wall by her head. Smirking victoriously, he leaned in to speak in her ear.

"_I'll ask you again; how did you get that beyblade?_" He growled.

Taylia's furious panting paused only for her to growl back in an animalistic fashion. She was a lot more stubborn than he thought. Narrowing his eyes, he paused for a moment to come up with a plan only a second later.  
Releasing the wrist he had pinned to the wall, he slid his hand down her arm to her shoulder, drawing an almost panicky exhale from Taylia. He smirked; it was her mistake to show fear when he'd pinned her before, now he knew her weakness. Taylia banged her forehead lightly against the wall, growling in frustration when Kai's hand snaked down her side, thankfully not daring to venture to her chest, and came to rest on her hip.

"_You can't hide the answer from me forever._"

That touched something.

Summoning whatever control she had left, she brought her free arm's elbow up and over in an arc to land a hard blow to Kai's shoulder, making him release her other arm and back up. He hadn't been expecting _that _kind of blow; she was right about being stronger than she looked.

**

* * *

**

Without hesitating for even a second, Taylia whirled around to execute another hard blow; a backwards roundhouse kick. Her heel smashed into the side of his head by the ear, knocking him over to the ground on his back with a grunt of pain. It wasn't enough to cause any real damage, just a lot of pain.  
Before Kai had the chance to get up, she put her foot on his chest and leaned forward with most of her weight. One arm rested over her knee while her free hand was on her hip.

"Listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once. Unless you have an urgent reason for knowing where I got Black Dranzer as well as a huge apology for coming at me _twice_, I suggest not starting something you can't finish."

Kai glared at her with a growl before grabbing her ankle and throwing her off, Taylia stumbling back a few steps as he leapt to his feet. She shifted into her same fighting stance, this time looking even more determined than before.

He came at her again, feinting a punch that made Taylia cross her arms in front of her defensively, giving him enough time to get behind her, loop his arms under hers and lock his hands behind her head, putting her in a sort of headlock/arm bar combo. Taylia growled, squirming and trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"Struggle all you like, you aren't getting out of this."

"We'll see about that."

Taylia reached back and grabbed the collar of his shirt before kicking his right instep **(2)** with her heel, causing him to let go. Taylia crouched low to the ground, pulling his shirt off over his head in the process.

"See how _you_ like having your scars revealed." She hissed coldly, looking over her shoulder from her crouching position. "Makes you feel very self-conscious, doesn't it."

Kai glowered darkly at her; not because of the action itself, but because she was right. However, he knew just from the first glance he had of her back that she bore far more scars than he did… she had to have had it very hard.

**

* * *

**

Taylia tossed his shirt aside, ready to turn around to shift back into her fighter's stance. Kai didn't give her time to before tackling her to the ground from behind, flipping her over on the ground so he was on his hands and knees above her, holding her wrists down and keeping her legs pinned with his. By now, she was too tired to try and fight back against his solid strength. Instead, she was content trying to glare a hole through his forehead.

Kai glared back at her, almost scowling. This girl was confusing. For starters, she had Black Dranzer. But back on their current situation, he noticed something else. Any other girl who looked at him in public would look at his face and try to get as much of his body as they could in as well. Taylia, on the other hand, was _pinned beneath him _while he was shirtless and she stared him straight in the eyes. It was unnerving, but at the same time intriguing, just like the other traits that had him so fascinated by such a person.

_Damn her…_

It was starting to piss him off; he was getting impatient with trying to figure her out. Most people he could read like a book, but she had too many layers for him to see through. He liked challenges, but this girl was trying his patience.

"I'm going to ask you _again_. Where did you get that beyblade?" He growled, emphasizing each individual word to get the message across.

Taylia remained completely silent and kept glaring at him. Mentally, she was berating herself for not thinking to take one of her beyblades with her. Black Dranzer would be raging _furious_ if he knew what was happening.

_Stop… please stop…_

Memories she tried to lock away were starting to resurface, and it was starting to make her panic. Kai's expression became questioning; could he see that she was scared of him?

**

* * *

**

_What is going on with her?_

Kai's calculating stare became softer. Even though Taylia's face showed a loathing scowl, her eyes betrayed fear and rising panic.

**Master Kai, I think that's enough.**

Kai didn't respond as the blader beneath him started to show more visible unease. Mentally, he was debating whether or not to keep her there until she cracked, or just let up. It was obvious she was losing control of whatever allowed her to keep her cool, much to his satisfaction of knowing it was his doing, but now he was having second thoughts.

"Goddammit Kai, get off me!"

Now she was disguising her fear by exerting it as anger. Whatever tenderness his expression had held a moment before was gone in a flash.

"Not until you tell me where you got Black Dranzer."

Taylia growled under her breath.

"Get off me **now** before I scream my lungs out. I can, and I will."

It was a last-resort threat, but it wasn't a bad one; she was simply taking advantage of the fact that it appeared _he_ was taking advantage of _her_.

_Sly bitch._

By now, Kai was starting to get uneasy himself. If she _did_ scream/yell/whatever, he wouldn't have any way to shut her up. He couldn't use a hand; if he let go of one of her wrists, she'd clobber him as soon as he released it.

**

* * *

**

_Fine._

Fed up with waiting, Taylia breathed in, ready to scream herself hoarse, expecting Kai to let go upon realizing she really would yell. What she didn't expect was for him to frantically shove his mouth on hers as soon as she'd hollered out, "GET OFF, BASTARD!"

Taylia _froze._

Flashbacks were flooding her mind too fast to even see what they were of. Nobody had _dared_ touch her this way since the last time one of those pissed-drunk guards caught sight of her 12-year-old self lost in the labyrinth of the Hermitage. Conversely, something was… different.

True, he had her pinned in a very suggestive position, and it took her a moment to realize it; he wasn't trying to hurt her. His grip on her wrists was gentle, especially on the one he'd bruised earlier, and even in his hurry to keep her quiet, Kai was being surprisingly (and somewhat uncharacteristically) tender, as if he knew what he was doing scared her.

The younger phoenix smirked inwardly as an idea formed in her head.

_I can use this to my advantage… _

**

* * *

**

Kai's mind was racing almost as fast as his pulse. He was mentally kicking/slapping himself for doing something so _stupid_ and at the same time… enjoying the close contact.

_I am **so** screwed when she gets out of this._

Much to his surprise, Taylia leaned forward a bit as if she were… returning a kiss. His eyes widened slightly. He hadn't expected her to take it the wrong way…

**But then again, this was what you wanted.**

Kai scowled mentally at Dranzer, knowing she was right.

_It's official. I've lost it. _

**

* * *

**

**(1) Hook and Cross- Two types of punches**

**(2) Instep- located at the front of the ankle **

**

* * *

**

**  
Yurii:** _Alright, another chapter! It was a total piece of shit!_ **I made it nice and long, so I want long reviews!**


	12. Two to Tango: Part I

**Four Winds**

**Two to Tango- Part I**

* * *

Yurii: _Yo, 'tis me again. Last chapter was kinda long… this one will be normal length. _

* * *

Drayea winced as the door to the girls' dorm door slammed open, aggravating the massive headache she was nursing. One very pissed-off looking Taylia stalked past, visibly fuming, before disappearing into their room and slamming the door, earning another painful grimace from the German girl. She knew their captain was pissed, but not _that_ pissed.

It would be a cold day in hell before she ever suggested she take the day off again.

_Cringe._

Taylia fell onto her bed with a soft thud, arms crossed tightly with a dark scowl on her face. That bastard Hiwatari had a lot of nerve to kiss her, but then again, she herself played a role in it as well when she tried to use his hormones against him by kissing back. Even with the valiant and almost desperate effort put into fighting back, she'd lost, and it pissed her off.

_I'm such an idiot… _

* * *

**_Flashback_**

Taylia smirked inwardly when she sensed Kai's shock. Her idea was simple; keep him busy until the distant voices wondering where the yell had come from arrived. When they did, she just had to make it look like she had been attacked. Easy.

Well, it would have been easy if her own control wasn't slipping unconsciously. It became much more obvious when Kai returned the kiss more ardently, leaning into it as he did so. It took a fair amount of willpower to down a groan, and even more when his tongue traced over her lips, begging for entry.

_Hmm…_

Deciding it would make her plan easier, she feigned shyness in parting her lips and allowing him entrance. Almost immediately, he set to work memorizing the new territory, gently stroking every inch of her mouth with his tongue. He tilted his head slightly into it to fit their mouths more tightly together, allowing him better access. This time, even fighting back she couldn't stifle a low moan. God, it felt so good to be kissed by a man this way.

_Wait, what the fuck am I doing? Mind over matter, Strelnikov!_

Luckily, she didn't have to snap into reality by herself when her enhanced hearing picked up heavy footsteps on the stairwell. Remembering the key part of her plan, she opened her eyes again wide enough to appear shocked and flattened herself against the floor as the footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs. She smirked inwardly when she saw a very confused and very pissed-off looking blader.

If her rescuer fiercely protecting her was any indication, she'd say that went pretty well.

What pissed her off wasn't the fight or Kai's persistence in her telling him where she got Black Dranzer; it was the fact that she'd let her control slip as he kissed her. That one notion of how good it felt had left her confused and irritated, not to mention dazed. Where the hell did he learn to kiss like that?

She shook her head to rid herself of the thought and tried to think what would happen to Kai having been caught.

_Smirk._

He was _so_ dead.

* * *

"For the last damn time, Tala, I was _not_ taking advantage of her."

Kai only received a dark glare for his protests. It was to his misfortune that the person who'd heard Taylia scream had been Tala, who was absolutely furious at the idea of him (or anyone for that matter) taking advantage of a woman.

Tala had been about an inch away from beating the shit out of him; best friend or not, he was still his team captain and he also happened to be a firm believer that no one gender was weaker than the other (**Woo! Go Tala!**). He could distinctly remember the genuine look of surprise on Taylia's face when his team captain came to her rescue.

He was in for a very long explanation.

* * *

Even Taylia had to admit it; she now had a new respect for Tala Ivanov, and not just because he was a good blader.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

Taylia let out a deep gasp for breath when she felt Kai being viciously torn off her, her body now suddenly aware of how long she hadn't been able to breathe and causing her to go into a short coughing fit. One hand went to her throat, an annoying and strange habit she'd developed from years of dealing with such things.

She looked up from lying on the floor to see none other than Tala, who was standing in front of her, then at Kai who had been thrown into the punching bag she'd been beating up earlier. The Blitzkrieg Boys' team captain turned around to look at her with a softer expression before coming to her side and gently lifting the other Russian captain off the ground and into his arms, seeming almost protective.

_He's strong._

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you."

Tala turned and glared at Kai, who by now had his vest, shirt and scarf back on again and was glaring at Tala.

"Of all people, Hiwatari, I would never have thought of you as the type to force women." He growled, sounding almost like a wolf.

Kai returned the glare, not to Tala but Taylia. He saw this and held onto her tighter by pulling her against his chest. Almost instinctively, Taylia rested her head on his shoulder so half her face was hidden. It felt so strange to be held by the redheaded Russian captain, but at the same time she felt almost safe with him defending her from Kai.

"…"

Kai had no response and was just staring under the guise of a glower. She knew why, thanks to one incident that took place the same night as her escape from the Hermitage.

Despite her wounds, Drayea had managed to stay conscious as Taylia had carried her a whole 10 miles to the nearest hospital before passing out and collapsing on the doorstep. Two paramedics had rushed out, one of them a young man in his early twenties who had picked up the injured phoenix in his arms like a small child. Taylia looked so unusually feminine and fragile when she was in the arms of another.

"Damnit Ivanov. This is none of your concern."

"_None of my concern?_ I walk down here to find you pinning a teenage girl to the floor with your tongue shoved down her throat and you're telling me it's none of my concern!"

Tala narrowed his eyes before turning to leave with Taylia still cradled in his arms. Not wanting to make eye contact with Kai, she hid her face in the crook of his neck.

"We're going to have a very long talk when we get back to the dorm."

**_End Flashback _**

* * *

Tala had carried her all the way back despite her insisting she was okay and put her down right outside her team's door. Hell, he'd even asked her (several times) if Kai had hurt her and if she was alright. It took several times to reassure him she was fine, though he still looked skeptical.

"Daaaaaammmmmmiiiiiiitt…" Taylia groaned into her pillow.

This was great, just fucking great. Karma was a cruel bitch; to add to the list of things pissing her off and confusing her that day, she couldn't get out of her mind how gentle Tala had been. It was as if he too could see that Kai scared her. The list of things she was afraid of was relatively short, so saying she feared someone was saying a lot.

Looking up at the digital clock on her nightstand, it read in green letters 5:13. Sighing, she got up and walked over to the closet where hers and Drayea's dresses were kept. It didn't matter what happened, she still had her dignity and reputation and would not let something like a simple kiss keep her from functioning normally. Except….

Taylia paused and absently touched her lips. It hadn't been just a simple kiss. It felt like so much more than that; it seemed almost familiar in a way that she just couldn't place. The memory of the way Kai had so… what was the word for it… _lovingly_ caressed her mouth and touched her… she could almost feel his hand traveling down her side again.

_Taylia Rhaion Strelnikov, get your mind out of the damn gutter and back in the game. He's an opponent, and you don't have the time to be having one of those stupid schoolgirl crushes. Start thinking with your brain and not with your hormones._

Her expression suddenly taking on its usual seriousness, she set to getting ready for the night ahead, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind.

* * *

"I still can't believe you're actually cruel enough to make me wear this."

"Put a fucking lid on it, Riikka. We heard you the first twenty thousand times."

The Finnish girl shot a glare at Drayea, who was now in a very bad mood from having a splitting headache lurking in her sinuses. Said German was sitting on the arm of the couch, arms folded and legs crossed, waiting with Riikka and Mitsu for Taylia. It was apparent that something was bothering the Russian girl, and they knew better than to ask what was wrong before she'd cooled down.

In the other room, Taylia was still fuming…. Literally. Thanks to the rather creepy effect of being spiritually tied to Arseni, there was actual smoke rising up over her head as she braided her hair.

_One of these days, I'm just going to cut this whole damn thing off._

"Screw this."

She stopped braiding it halfway and tied it, not bothering to continue. Grabbing her blades and normal launcher, she tucked them into the pocket of her parka and stepped outside, not saying a word as she started out with the others right behind her.

"Okay, the Four Winds have arrived. We all have one blader to watch in case they might have something to do with Taylia and Black Dranzer. Spencer, keep an eye on Mitsu Utariyma. Bryan, you watch Riikka Korpela. I'll take Taylia Strelnikov."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

Tala and Kai spoke in low voices, using only Russian should anyone be able to hear them. If the other bladers knew that Black Dranzer was still alive, it was possible that they'd panic. The last thing they needed was the whole BBA and media after them for being the first to find out.

As for Ian, who was still sick, he was back at the dorm. Kai was more than willing to bet that he was just faking it by now so he wouldn't have to go. Bastard midget.

"Well, Black Dranzer or not, stay away from her tonight. You've already done enough."

Kai only gave a 'hn' in reply.

"You keep an eye on Drayea Rothstein."

"The chick you're crushing on? Oh, wait, that's Taylia."

Tala's eye twitched involuntarily, one hand forming a fist that was itching to cuff him a good one to the head.

"You're the one who was making out with her on the floor _with your shirt off_, you perverted bastard."

Kai sneered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Jealous?"

Instead of a nasty comeback, Tala's face turned as red as his hair as he spluttered, unable to come up with a coherent reply. The leer on Kai's face broadened. Revenge was sweet.

"Bah. At least I can keep my clothes on around the opposite sex, Hiwatari."

"My heart bleeds."

* * *

"Riikka, come _out_ already. If Garland comes within 20 feet of you I'll be sure to hang him from the chandelier by his stupid girly hair."

"Make it his windpipe and we have a deal."

Drayea sighed in exasperation, her arms folded, and rolled her eyes. Riikka was currently flattened against the outside wall spy-style, making sure Garland wasn't there. Said Finn glanced around the corner.

"The perimeter is secure, sir. Shall we proceed?" Drayea asked dryly.

"Shut up."

* * *

Meanwhile, Taylia was going around to the back. She knew all too well that Kai would be watching the front entrance, and she had it in mind to stay as far away from him as possible. She scowled inwardly at the thought of him.

_Damn bastard doesn't know when to give up…_

**Then why was that kiss so much more than _just_ a kiss?**

Taylia glared mentally at Arseni, whose smug tone was already getting on her nerves. The phoenix ruffled his feathers, obviously pleased he'd gotten under her skin.

_Shut up. He caught me off-guard._

**But nonetheless you enjoyed it. Does my mistress have a _crush_ on a certain _boy_?** He teased.

_Arseeennniiiiii!_

Arseni chuckled. Sometimes his mistress could be such a child, and it was always amusing to watch.

_I do **not** like Kai, and it will take one hell of a reason to make me think otherwise._

**Right now, that reason would be the fact that you can't stop thinking about when a certain crimson-eyed _Russian_ FRENCH kissed you.**

Taylia very much resembled a goldfish in trying to register what he said and come up with a good comeback.

**Oh, don't try to deny it. I know what goes on in your head, and you're obviously crazy about him.**

_I. AM. NOT._

**Whatever you say, mistress. Whatever you say.**

"Stupid fire turkey…."

* * *

_Note to self: remember to bring taser next time we go **anywhere** that bastard might be._

Actually, by now Riikka was seriously considering swiping Raiuma from Mitsu and using that instead…. Much higher voltage. Yes.

_Smirk._

Several nearby bladers slowly inched away from the Finn, who unconsciously had a broad, scheming smirk on her face from the mental image of Garland vs. Raiuma. Add to that the fact that she was snickering, and it was enough to make anyone crap their pants.

Drayea would be proud.

_Ahem._

"Having fun?"

_I was until you ruined it._

"Hmph."

Riikka scowled and folded her arms, turning her head away from the smug-looking BEGA captain. Did that bastard _stalk_ her or something? Or maybe he had a built-in radar for blondes. Heaven forbid.

"You're a bloody stalker, Tzebult."

"On the last name track now, are we Korpela?"

_It's going to be a looong night. _

* * *

"No sign of Hiwatari… good. Dumb sod…"

"I knew you hated him, but not _that_ much."

Taylia slapped herself inwardly for having spoken aloud.

"Isn't it rather obvious, Ivanov?" She growled.

She could practically _hear_ the smirk on his face. If she had to guess, he was probably leaning against the banister, arms folded with an amused leer on his face. Bastard.

"Lets not get on the surname thing again, Korpela and Tzebult are already at it." He replied, sounding almost amused.

"_Note to self: let Riikka borrow my steel-toed boots_." She muttered under her breath. Judging by the 'heh' she got in response, Tala overheard.

"I'm guessing you came around the back way to avoid Kai?"

"You guessed right."

Taylia glanced over her shoulder at the redheaded Russian captain; she was right about his posture leaning against the wall, arms folded. Typical Blitzkrieg Boy pose. Instead of his usual uniform with the Blitzkrieg 'B' on his chest, Tala had on a white dress shirt, black pants and a black jacket, which was currently slung over one shoulder.

_Not a bad change, Ivanov._

She resisted the urge to smirk when she caught his eyes wandering. Somehow, she wasn't all that surprised.

* * *

Tala did nothing to stop himself when his eyes roamed over the brunette Russian captain in front of him. She looked _very nice_ when she was all dressed up- sure, he'd seen a few of the female bladers all dolled up, but it didn't have the same effect as Taylia in a dress… with slits all the way up her legs.

_Drool._

**Like what you see?** Wolborg teased.

_Oh yeah._

He looked up when she turned back to facing the black forest surrounding the lodge. She was sort of hugging her arms as she leaned against the railing. Ha, so she wasn't superhuman.

"Cold?"

She gave a soft 'hn', not wanting to admit it. Guess she really _was_ as stubborn as Kai claimed she was.

Taylia's eyes suddenly opened in surprise when she felt Tala's jacket being placed over her shoulders.

"Relax, Taylia. Like I said earlier, I won't hurt you."

Even despite her wariness, she couldn't help but be convinced by his soft tone. She had good reason to be edgy; for all she knew, Tala could be just as bad or worse than Kai, in which case she _would_ defend herself… violently.

"C'mon, lets go inside before you get sick."

Both captains were unaware of the watching two pairs of eyes around the corner.

_Target sighted.

* * *

**Yurii:** __So, how was it? PUH-LEASE REVIEW!_


	13. Two to Tango: Part II

**Four Winds**

**Two to Tango- Part II **

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _This is part 2 of about 3 or 4…yeah. You get the idea. REVIEW!_

_"Speaking in another language_" (**Translation**) Got it? Good.

_

* * *

_

"Paint balloons?"

"Check."

"Water balloons?"

"Check."

"Slingshots?"

"Check."

"Slime?"

"Check."

"Marbles?"

"Double check."

"Double check?"

"I brought two bags; the more, the better."

"Excellent. Prepare to commence 'Operation: Party Crashers'."

Danica rubbed her hands together with a diabolical smirk on her face almost identical to Ian's. Tonight would be her masterpiece.

_Heh._

"Remind me again where you come up with all this stuff?" The Russian blader asked, still smirking.

Danica turned around and returned the smirk. Ian could have sworn he saw devil horns sprouting out of her newly-dyed hair. Except for her bangs, it was now jet-black.

"Oh, nowhere. I just plot late into the night how to pull a good one over on every blader in the BBA." She replied in a cheesy-sinister tone.

"That had to be the lamest Boris impression I've ever heard."

"_Che_, please. I'm _twice_ the evil genius _he_ ever was."

"May god be merciful on us…"

"Shut up and hand me that paint balloon… the big pink one."

* * *

"Look, if Kai tries anything, you have my full permission to maim him. Just make sure he can still blade in time for the tournament." 

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Taylia was smirking anyway even though she had to be in the same vicinity as 'that Hiwatari asshole'. She'd been talking with Tala for the past 15-20 minutes, and much to her surprise he was really very charming. That, and it was nice to hold an intelligent conversation with someone aside from her teammates; as smart as they were, it got dull after a while. She was sorely tempted to glance in Kai's direction; from anyone's point of view, one would think he was flirting with her… and she was anyone.

"Is it just me or does it feel like something's… off." Taylia suddenly commented.

"I think it's just you. Maybe standing outside gave you brain freeze." He kidded.

Taylia suddenly went very still before grabbing Tala by the arm and rather forcefully yanking him out of the way. A half-second later, a resounding 'SPLAT!' left a huge pink splotch on the floor where he'd been standing. Both bladers looked up to the glass-panel ceiling only to find four more paint-bombs falling down.

As fast as they were dodging, the other bladers around them weren't quick enough; next thing the Conquistadors –formerly the Barthez's Battalion- knew, they were all colored bright green and orange. Taylia had one hand over her mouth to keep from laughing; Tala didn't bother hiding it.

"Look out below!"

Taylia dove and rolled out of the way as some 3 or 4 blue and red paint balloons splattered where she'd just been. Tala looked up.

"I recognize that voice anywhere. **IAN! YOU ARE DEAD WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE DORM!**"

"Shit, I've been found out!"

Taylia looked up to see a widely smirking Danica as well, though she was far better hidden than the short Russian blader.

_A-ha, the criminal mastermind._

She motioned with her head towards one side of the room where the other confused bladers were wondering what was going on… and where Garland was hitting on a very pissed-off looking Riikka. Danica, catching on, gave the thumbs-up and a wink when the phoenix mouthed 'purple'.

* * *

(**If you guessed that it was Ian and Danica '_stalking_' Tala and Taylia, you were right**)

* * *

_If this goes on for **2 fucking minutes longer** I swear I'll set Ukko on that asshole._

Thankfully for the ram of thunder, Ukko was spared the gory task when Riikka was suddenly jerked away from the wall a second before Garland was bombarded with purple paint coming from… the ceiling? Riikka looked up not to see falling paint bombs, but instead…

_Bryan?_

Apparently, he'd been the one who'd grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the line of fire. However, it looked like he'd been ready to do a lot more than that; she could tell by the apparent scowl on his face directed at a now bright purple Garland, who was cursing in god-knows-what language, probably Greek, and trying to wipe off as much of the gunk as he could.

"Fire two!" Came the yell from above before green slime got dumped on his head, earning a smirk from Bryan as well as full-blown laughter from Riikka at the look on the BEGA captain's face.

The Finn looked up and mouthed a very grateful 'THANK YOU!' to the Slavic dragon, who replied with a smug grin, a thumbs-up and mouthed back 'I always wanted to do that' or something like that. Of course, the feeling of triumph quickly vanished when she realized that Bryan still had a tight grip on her arm holding her against him while Garland shot him a death glare.

"Leave her alone, Tzebult."

The tone Bryan used sounded almost like a territorial growl. Garland, who didn't want to make a scene, just scowled at the falcon and stalked off to try and wash the purple out of his hair and clothes.

* * *

Garland scowled at his reflection in the mirror. How he _despised_ the color purple. Much to his misfortune, that was now the color of his hair; lilac. 

_I look like that Kuznetsov bastard._

His scowl darkened at the thought of the Russian falcon. How _dare_ he lay a hand on _his_ ram, he asserted his claim first.

Unless…

_Unless I'm going about it the wrong way._

A sadistic grin lit up his face in a very unpleasant way. Yes, he probably _was_ going about it the wrong way.

_This is going to get interesting…_

* * *

Taylia sighed and fell back heavily against the wall. This wasn't exactly the excitement she had in mind for the evening, hell, she hadn't even _wanted_ any excitement; she just wanted to get this stupid get-together over with and be out of there by early the next morning. However, it was only going to get worse… 

Just when the bladers all thought things were calming down, all heads turned when a distant 'BOOM' came from outside. Taylia looked up, highly alert, to the chandelier some 35 feet up as it shook, Mitsu standing under it and Danica and Ian above it, still on the glass paneling.

Time seemed to slow as things took a turn for the worst.

Whatever had caused the boom earlier, it smashed out the front of the ballroom with an ear-splitting explosion. The glass ceiling above shattered from the force, causing Danica, Ian and the huge chandelier to plummet to the ground.

With little more than a half-second of hesitation, Taylia sprinted towards the wall, kicking off her shoes in the process and jumping up so her feet met the wall before springing off with all the strength she could muster and crash-tackling the two bladers right out of the air.

Below, Mitsu looked up as she moved to pull out her beyblade, though her efforts were too late. Fortunately, she was swept up by a much faster blader as the glass and metal chandelier met the ground with a 'CRASH!'. Taylia and the two bladers under her arms hit the ground in a rough crouch-and-roll landing, the Russian girl almost immediately dropping Danica and Ian from the impact and simultaneously turning around to see if Mitsu was okay.

* * *

"Are you alright?" 

The Japanese girl slowly opened her eyes to meet a pair of concerned blue ones belonging to the tall blonde Blitzkrieg Boy. A very slight blush appeared on the bridge of her nose. Mitsu suddenly felt very small next to him.

"I'm fine… thanks…"

Of course, Mitsu being Mitsu had to go and look down and blush openly when she realized Spencer had swept her up into his arms in the process of saving her.

Cue embarrassment.

Said Russian quickly let her down, muttering an apology in his native language in the same jumbled mess of words of her own pathetic apology.

* * *

The bladers that had been knocked off their feet slowly got up, Danica and Ian much more shakily than Taylia who by now was enraged at whoever was careless and stupid enough to blast out the side of the lodge. 

As the smoke continued to billow out of the gaping, massive hole, Taylia's enhanced hearing picked up four more sets of footsteps. The fingers on her right hand wavered slightly, ready to draw her loaded launcher, her stance widening a bit and her weight being balanced on the balls of her feet. Behind her, she heard Drayea shift into the same bearing with her left hand at the ready.

Her reflexes kicked in almost as fast as a beyblade came shooting out of the smoke; she ripped out her launcher from the holster on her leg, a beginner's launcher (it was the only kind small enough to hide on her person), and whipped out the ripcord, sending her Arseni HMS Strata into the gloom, followed a second after by Gundula ZS Strata.

"Gundula, blow off their cover!"

However, Drayea was beaten to the punch when a loud roar was followed by a frigid blast of air. Taylia raised one arm to shield her eyes as her other hand shot out and caught her beyblade. What she saw when the smoke cleared made her scowl.

"Nadriya V. Rzhyov. Why am I not surprised?"

The green-eyed girl, presumably the team captain, smirked at Taylia's comment.

"Now, now, Strelnikov. Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

Taylia just glowered at her and her smirking teammates.

Nadriya returned the glare; she was dressed in a black shirt similar to her own usual one, but hers was a halter top with a kind of dog-collar around her neck and the left arm with a long sleeve, the right with none. Around her waist was a forest green corset that was laced up just tight enough to show off the signature Hermitage-blader-girl build; strong and sleek. Below her waist, she had on a pair of black suede pants that had slits in them up to her hips, where a belt with a holster for her blade and launcher hung loosely. The ends of her pants were tucked into her combat boots, and her hands were covered by a pair of black gloves that had green Celtic markings on them. Her raven-black hair was pulled into a knot-bun on the back of her head; if it were down, it would be just a bit longer than Riikka's hair.

Taylia's eyes went back to her navy and steel-silver beyblade where the image of a black dragon with blue markings of several shades adorned its armored scales. Her eyes narrowed.

_Zimyatov…_

She recognized that blade all too well. Nadriya was one of the only 3 people who had ever seen her go Armageddon with Arseni… more to the point, she was one of the only 3 people who had been able to rile her up enough to make her go berserk… hence the reason she was called Armageddon by almost every blader who knew her.

"By the way, Armageddon, nice dress." Nadriya sneered.

"…"

* * *

Drayea's brow furrowed when Taylia didn't respond… that was a bad sign. Syevyerniy wasn't the kind of person who exploded when she got mad. Instead, she went into a cold, unspoken fury until she had bottled it up for so long that she wound up torching anyone and anything within the blasting zone. _That_ was always disastrous. 

However, that wasn't the only thing that had her worried. Taylia could be very vulnerable when she had gone into her silent raging because of the fact that she wouldn't fight back lest she explode. She was lucky right now, Taylia was still only starting to get angry.

"Leave her alone, Nadriya." She growled. Even Nadriya knew their motto, and Drayea was proud of the fact that she lived up to it well.

The black-haired Russian turned to her and smirked mockingly, earning three glares; Mitsu and Riikka had joined in and had their launchers already loaded and ready. The German girl studied their old rivals.

The girl on Nadriya's right was a dark-haired, tanned girl a few inches shorter than Riikka; judging by her facial features and stature, she was Mongolian.

She was clad in what appeared to be Chinese clothing; a black silk shirt with a green, red, gold and black dragon winding around her torso, the sleeves ending just above her wrists where her gloves overlapped them; it was likely she had taken a pair of full, leather gloves and cut off the fingers. Her pants were thick silk, same as Mitsu's, and they were tied up at her knees by a black bow. Her boots, made of crude brown leather, met them right at where they stopped and were tightly laced up around her lower leg. Her hair was pulled into a tight braid that went all the way down to the backs of her knees, and her eyes were the same dark obsidian color as her hair. This girl's blade and holster were strapped to her sides like it was a sword or something; her beyblade was a dark charcoal color with a silver attack ring.

_That has to be Solongo… I'd recognize that style anywhere._

Her eyes traveled to the next girl, whom she immediately recognized as the girl who'd challenged Taylia when she'd gotten through another whipping session; Lilja Aputsiaq, the Greenlandic girl.

For a Greenland native, it was strange for her to have black hair and brown eyes; at first glance, one would have thought her Native American.

She was wearing a hand-knit red sweater with a white and black diamond design across her shoulders (typical Greenlandic top) and had a long black parka draped over it, buttoned up only in the middle so most of the rest of her clothing was visible. Her pants were thick leather, adorned with only a white band around the ends of the legs. They were overlapped by a pair of very typical Greenlandic boots; knee-length red snow boots with a white Y-shape going down from the top of them down to her toes. Her hair had a kind of silvery sheen to it, and was held back in a loose ponytail that hung to the point between her shoulder blades. Her belt was worn tightly around her waist over the coat where her blade and launcher each had a separate pouch; her beyblade was black with a sickly-green attack ring.

Drayea scowled. Lilja's bit beast Ukaleq was a very bizarre but deadly creature, looking like a 3-eyed dragon that had crawled straight out of the bowels of hell. It's element, surprisingly for a beast of his appearance, was 'Supernatural'. There weren't very many bladers back at the Hermitage who were brave enough or stupid enough to challenge her; one blow from her Typhoid Dusk, and the chances of them surviving were even worse than if they'd jumped off the roof of the building.

The last girl, the one at the back, was totally silent and next to invisible.

She was dressed very simply; she had on a black hoodie sweater that looked to be a size or two too big with 3 ice-blue claw mark designs on the shoulders and chest of it. The hood was pulled up, covering her face above the middle of her nose and cheeks. Her pants were steel-blue cargoes, which she had her hands shoved into the pockets of, and her boots were quite similar to Taylia's; armored black boots that reached her shins. Her gloves, though mostly hidden from the fact that her hands were in her pockets, she could see were adorned with metal studs on her knuckles and a metal plate on the back of her hands. Her launcher was strapped to her leg by a holster, but her blade was nowhere in sight.

_Something about her isn't right._

Sensing she was being watched, the girl with the hood looked up, though her eyes were still hidden. Drayea shot her a dark glare of warning, only succeeding in getting the girl to snort, fold her arms and look away as if annoyed.

* * *

Nadriya pulled out her blade, skillfully loading it into her own launcher and keeping it ready in one hand. 

"Get out your blade. I think our rematch is long overdue."

Taylia's only response was to fold her arms and lower her head, shadowing her eyes and enhancing the dangerous aura that her scowl gave off. Nadriya, sensing her unwillingness to fight, took aim at Taylia and fired her beyblade.

Zimyatov never got the chance to reach her when another blade, a silver one, slammed into it midair and knocked it off-course into a wall. Tala had launched Wolborg only a split second after Nadriya and was now standing in front of said phoenix.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Nadriya only smirked as her blade returned to her, waiting at her feet still spinning.

"Is this your boyfriend, _Syevyerniy_? He's cute."

Even despite his death glare, Taylia detected a very slight blush.

_Smirk._

"_Lilja, Solongo_, нападение!" (**Lilja, Solongo, attack!)**

Both the Mongolian and Greenlandic bladers let their blades out into the battlefield only to be met by two more blades; a crimson one and a midnight blue one.

Mitsu and Riikka stepped forward, launchers in hand and looking ready for a tag-team battle. Taylia looked to her teammates, her eyes bright; she had a plan.

"_Uzhniy, Vostoshniy_, атаковать вместе!" (**Riikka, Mitsu, attack together!**)

The Finnish and Japanese bladers didn't have to be told twice; both girls turned to their blades, and Ukko ZS Strata and Raiuma RS Gigus had taken off towards their opponents' blades. Ukaleq and Quidel in turn charged.

"_Zapadno,_ ожидание для моей команды." (**Drayea, wait for my command.**)

The redheaded German nodded and readied her launcher.

* * *

"Raiuma, attack!" 

"Ukko, double-team them!"

The blades reacted almost immediately to their mistresses' commands and bolted in opposite directions. Taylia smirked; this was one of their best attacks.

Raiuma RS and Ukko ZS shot back at the opposing force and smashed into them from the outside, smashing Quidel and Ukaleq together before shooting away again too fast for either Solongo or Lilja to react. Said Greenlandic, much to the shock of the East and South Winds, only smirked and folded her arms.

"Ukaleq, Umbra Veil."

"Raiuma, Aurora Lumen!"

An obsidian black mist started to surround Ukaleq HMS Zero, spreading over the floor as Raiuma's blade started to take on a bright golden aura that was only snuffed out by Lilja's defensive move.

"Raiuma!"

"Mitsu, let me handle this."

All eyes fell on Riikka who had spoken. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were out forming a diamond between her index fingers and thumbs.

"Ukko, sound radar."

Her tone remained calm even as the thick fog covered the battlefield and swallowed the bladers.

* * *

Watching from the sidelines, Taylia kept a calm face despite her growing concern for her teammates; it wasn't so much Mitsu she was worried about, though... 

It was Riikka.

Ukko was an extremely difficult and dangerous bit beast to wield, especially by someone with as little defensive power as Riikka. The fact that Ukko was a Ram, a pure spirit of nature, made it even _more_ dangerous to blade with. His attacks all utilized sound, being the element Thunder, and since neither Riikka or Ukko could control where the sound waves went, every attack she made was a Heavy Offense in itself.

* * *

"_Rynnistää_!" (**Attack!**) 

From inside the black abyss, Riikka's command was followed by a shrill neighing; Raiuma. Mitsu had panicked, and it had set out her bit beast. Another sound like clashing metal was followed by both Solongo and Mitsu being thrown out of the black cloud. The Mongolian girl broke her fall with a rough back handspring, but Mitsu had been smashed into with enough force to send her into the wall and leave a crater where she made contact, earning a mass wince from the bystanders.

"_Zapadno, атаковать теперь!_" (**Drayea, attack now!**) Taylia shouted.

Drayea needed no further convincing as she leapt into the Umbra Veil, Gundula in hand and with an enraged aura about the beyblade.

**Both Drayea and Gundula are enraged. This may end well after all.** Arseni mused.

Taylia just scowled and readied her own beyblade.

"Ukko, Sonic Boom!"

"RIIKKA!"

A furious war cry coming from the griffin was heard as a shrill, echoing shriek as a sub-zero wind easily blew away Ukaleq's cover though not in time to save Riikka from the same fate as Mitsu. This time, however, Taylia reacted fast enough to get behind her small teammate and cushion the blow somewhat; Ukaleq had thrown her out with enough force to cause their collision to send Taylia sliding backwards on her feet almost to the wall, her arms locked around Riikka's waist in her attempt to catch said Finn.

Ukko ZS clattered to the ground near Raiuma, both blades severely damaged. Taylia cringed slightly when a random scene of one of Mitsu's.. ehh... _hissy fits_ about her blade came to mind.

_Great._

* * *

Drayea shot a dark glare at Lilja, who was starting to run out of steam as Gundula's attacks came down fast and forceful; the griffin was absolutely _furious_ at the bit beast who had the nerve to strike down bladers along with their bit beasts. 

"Gundula, finish her now!"

Her response was for her beyblade to bolt in the opposite direction in a huge arc around the battlefield before smashing head-on into Ukaleq HMS Zero. The black and green blade went flying back in the direction it had come, embedding itself deeply into a felled wooden rafter. Lilja was still, eyes wide, a small cut on the side of her face where her beyblade had grazed it.

Gundula returned to Drayea's outstretched hand, said German quickly reloading her launcher and aiming to fire it.

"That's enough."

* * *

Drayea looked back in surprise at Taylia only for her expression to become respectful and... fearing? 

From the sidelines, Kai followed Drayea's gaze to Taylia; her eyes were shadowed dangerously, and the aura radiating off her promised destruction and lots of it. He looked back at his own teammates. Tala was watching with a look of both awe and amazement while Spencer -with an approving nod from Drayea- was helping a hurt and barely conscious Mitsu to her feet. Riikka was leaning heavily against the wall not far from the impression left by the Japanese-American girl.

The brunette Russian phoenix steeped forth, taking Drayea's place and glaring menacingly at Nadriya; those hawk-like eyes were back again. However, this time they were much more unusually calm. Either she had a plan, or Taylia's temper was about ready to break.

"Last chance, Nadriya. If you retreat now you can all go home in one piece." She growled.

In her hand, Arseni HMS Strata took on a deep crimson aura that engulfed her arm up to her elbow which flickered as if it were fire. The eyes of the phoenix on the bit chip flashed before taking on a steady gold glow.

Nadriya only smirked in turn, amused, and turned to her teammates with her arms folded.

"Look guys, I made her mad." She said in a mocking voice like the kind used to speak to babies. "Armageddon's gonna _huuuuurrrttt meeeeee_."

Her three teammates smirked, but only for a split second when a bolt of fire shot past Nadriya's face, barely missing her. The black-haired Russian's eyes were wide; Taylia was standing in the same place with her empty fist raised in front of her with threads of smoke rising into the air.

_She didn't even call on her bit beast..._

Taylia slowly raised her gaze to stare directly into Nadriya's eyes.

"Still think I'm joking? Repeat that last sentence and we'll see how long you last." She snarled, her canines now slightly move distinct.

The Russian dragon leered at her.

"You haven't changed a bit, _Syevyerniy_." She sneered, putting mocking emphasis on her nickname. "We'll be seeing you again soon."

With that said, Nadriya raised her arm over her head and threw it down again, causing a burst of smoke to conceal their exit; smoke pellets.

* * *

Taylia lowered her arm to her side again, the wind picking up and toying with her half-done braid. 

"_Tsyetirye Vyetra, _отступление." (**Four Winds, retreat.**)

Even despite their injuries, both Riikka and Mitsu managed to follow their captain and Drayea out of the building. Taylia paused to look back over her shoulder, the full moon giving her a kind of spooky, enigmatic aura. Her eyes fell on Kai before she disappeared over the debris of the building.

* * *

**Yurii:** _FINALLY I'm done with this MOFO chapter. **I MADE IT NICE AND LONG SO REVIEW, MORTALS!**_


	14. Third Time's the Charm

**Four Winds**

**Third Time's the Charm **

* * *

**Yurii:** _It's meeeeeeee! Thank you SOOO much to those of you who reviewed! And for those of you who **didn't review** (boo! hiss!) start feeling guilty. Right now. _

_I'm almost at the Hundred-Review Mark! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! XD_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Would I be writing a goddamn fan fiction if I owned Beyblade? …I also don't own Boeing. _

_

* * *

_

"_And today's weather forecast is predicted to be-_"

**SMASH!**

"Stupid time-teller from hell..."

Drayea growled lowly as she removed her fist from the remains of their alarm clock that read 5:45am in glowing numbers.

"-yawn- Get up Tai, it was your idea to leave early..." She yawned, rubbing her eyes.

The griffin received no response.

"Taylia?"

Drayea switched on the beside lamp and swung her legs over the side of the bed, now fully awake. Standing up to check Taylia's bunk, she found not her team captain, but a note. She shook her head and smirked when she finished reading it.

_Just like Tai…_

* * *

_She sits in her corner  
Singing herself to sleep  
Wrapped in all of the promises  
That no one seems to keep  
She no longer cries to herself  
No tears left to wash away  
Just diaries of empty pages  
Feelings gone a stray  
But she will sing _

_Til everything burns  
While everyone screams  
Burning their lies  
Burning my dreams  
All of this hate  
And all of this pain  
I'll burn it all down  
As my anger reigns  
Til everything burns _

_Ooh, oh _

_Walking through life unnoticed  
Knowing that no one cares  
Too consumed in their masquerade  
No one sees her there  
And still she sings _

_Til everything burns  
While everyone screams  
Burning their lies  
Burning my dreams  
All of this hate  
And all of this pain  
I'll burn it all down  
As my anger reigns _

_Til everything burns  
Everything burns  
(Everything burns)  
Everything burns  
Watching it all fade away  
(All fade away)  
Everyone screams  
Everyone screams  
(Watching it all fade away)  
Oooh, ooh  
(While everyone screams)  
Burning down lies  
Burning my dreams  
(All of this hate)  
And all of this pain  
I'll burn it all down  
As my anger reigns  
Til everything burns  
(Everything burns)  
Watching it all fade away  
(Oooh, ooh)  
(Everything burns)  
Watching it all fade away _

Taylia stared blankly out the window of the Boeing 747, her cheek rested in her hand and her elbow propped up on the armrest. Her iPod was playing 'Everything Burns' by Ben Moody, and it was rather fitting for her current mood.

She knew she was walking straight into a dangerous situation, but she couldn't ignore Arseni's persistent urging.

_This had better be worth it, Arseni._

**I assure you my mistress, this is of the utmost importance.**

Taylia didn't say anything more as the captain announced over the intercom that they would be landing soon. One more plane to catch, and it would be smooth sailing for a good 13 hours.

* * *

_"They're gone!" _

An almost panicked outburst spread like wildfire through the lodge when the Four Winds were discovered to have left.

It was actually the Blitzkrieg Boys who were remaining calm about it; they knew where the girls were headed, and their destination was the same.

Kai, however, wasn't quite satisfied.

Something felt a bit off, and he intended to find out what it was.

While the rest of the bladers were wondering where the Four Winds had gone, Kai slipped into their dorm room where the door had been left ajar.

**Master Kai, there is still traces of an aura, but it's not from either of Taylia's bit beasts. I think it's Gundula.**

Kai didn't reply and wandered into the first bedroom.

_A-ha…_ He thought with a smirk.

A note lay on the nightstand written in neat, slanted Russian; definitely Taylia's hand.

_Drayea- _

_I'm sure it's early morning by the time you've found this. I've gone ahead, about an hour after you all fell asleep. There's something I have to get back from an old acquaintance, so to speak. Don't worry; it's not Nadriya or any of the other Soviet Knights. (I figured out their team name online from the BBA roster). _

_I should be back in about a week; I have to go all the way to Greenland. Until I get back, you're in charge. You're all scheduled for a 7 am flight back to St. Petersburg courtesy of Mr. D, so don't be late. I took the liberty of packing up for you all last night. _

_Be grateful. –glare- _

_-Taylia_

_P.S- I'm going to be royally pissed if any of you throws a hissy fit at me when I get back that your blades are damaged. It's your own goddamn fault! Learn to fix them yourselves you lazy sods!_

He smirked; that was definitely Taylia. That brand of sarcasm was recognizable anywhere.

_P.P.S- Stop reading this **right now** Kai Hiwatari, you underhanded double-dealing perverted squeaking fucktard!_

Said underhanded double-dealing perverted squeaking fucktard did nothing to keep his eye from twitching almost uncontrollably. Dranzer, inside his head, was having a hard time not laughing out loud.

**I'll give her this, she's a crafty one.**

_Shut up Dranzer._

* * *

"You're leaving _already_?"

"Sadly, yes. Which means that I will have to torment the Majestics by my own lonesome savvy."

Ian raised one eyebrow as Danica continued packing a wide assortment of prank instruments; canisters of paint, empty balloons, several bags of marbles and a number of other oddities he couldn't help but wonder what she had in store for them.

Insert evil smirk here.

He was sitting cross-legged on her bed watching as the Slavic dragon did a double-check around her room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and there was a lot of space to check. The Majestics had gotten a whole dorm room to themselves each, all connected by one hallway like a huge hotel suite.

"Now, where did I put my exploding gum…?"

**BANG!**

"DANICA!"

"Oh, _right_."

She grinned sheepishly when a furious and black-faced Johnny stalked into her room with a pack of innocent-looking gum in his hand.

"I believe _this_ is _your_ gum of Satan?"

Danica put on an 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about' look and raised her hands defensively.

"I possess none of this 'gum of Satan' of which you speak. I _do_, however, have a pack of exploding gum. Have you seen it?"

She smirked when she easily caught the pack lobbed at her head.

"Whatever. The Majestics are going skiing on our last day here, so make sure you two behave while we're gone; we don't need any chibi Danicas or Ians running around."

Both bladers resembled fish out of water at the comment.

"PREAPRE TO DIE, BASTARD!"

Johnny ran (very quickly) from the room when Danica and Ian chased after him, the former wielding her brand-new halberd **(1)** launcher.

"GET BACK HERE AND FACE YOUR PAINFUL MASSACRING LIKE A MAN!"

* * *

"HIYAAA!"

Riikka hit the ground with an 'uff!' from being thrown, earning a victorious smirk from Mitsu. Even if the Japanese-American was badly lacking in physical strength, she was tall, she was skilled, and she was light on her feet.

Oh, and did I mention she was insanely _fast_?

Drayea, who was standing on the sidelines, smirked as well when Riikka, who now looked ready to murder someone, staggered to her feet trying to get a second wind after having the first knocked out of her.

All three of them were clad in their sparring attire, and the idea wasn't only to improve their fighting skills but to build up their cold tolerance as well.

Mitsu, who was already very skilled at maintaining her body temperature, was clad in a midriff much like her shirt in color and style, but lacking the sleeves and any fabric below the bottom of her chest. A red sash was tied at the bottom of her shirt and was crisscrossed down to her hips where they overlapped her black silk pants. Her shoes were replaced with athletic tape, as were her gloves.

Riikka had the least cold tolerance, and had on a skintight navy shirt with short sleeves and one gold lightning bolt on each side. She too had athletic tape in place of her gloves, but she had on a pair of hiking sandals so she wouldn't have to walk barefoot through the snow. Her pants were thick black sweats with the same design on the sides as her shirt.

Drayea, being the most tolerant to the cold because of her growing up there, had on a russet-brown sleeveless midriff, her hands and feet wrapped in bandages rather than tape to let more air through. She too had on black sweats like Riikka, but hers were much thinner and tighter.

However, if Taylia had been there, she would have schooled all of them. If that girl _really_ wanted to, she could walk outside in a freaking bikini and maintain a good 97-98 degree body temperature without trying, thanks to Arseni.

_I wonder what it is that was so important she get…_

"Oi, Drayea, I'm not getting any younger over here! And considering my back still hurts like hell from hitting that wall, you should be out here instead of me." Mitsu griped.

Drayea shot her a glare, earning a gulp from said blader who turned around and just waited for Riikka to get up and fight back. The German girl had a nasty temper at the end of a long fuse, same as Taylia, but she was much more physically violent in her rage than their team captain. They all knew better than to invoke her wrath when she was thinking deeply about something.

"Think fast!"

Drayea's hand shot up to block a snowball aimed at the side of her head, thrown by one certain blonde Finn. Her eyes traveled slowly to her grinning teammate and a very pale Mitsu as a predatory smirk crossed her face.

Temperamental griffin plus evil smirk equals BAD.

"You two are _dead_."

* * *

"_Finally_ here."

The bellboy left at the exasperated sigh spoken in Russian. Taylia in turn kicked the door shut and dropped her duffel bag and backpack in the small living area before retreating to her bedroom and drawing the shades. Even if it was still only about 9 pm in Russia, she adjusted very quickly to time zone differences; it was 3 in the morning the previous day in Nord.

"_Til sidst her ovre_." (**Greenlandic- Roughly translated, _At last, here._**)

Arseni couldn't even get in a sigh of relief of his own before Taylia flopped onto the huge bed and fell asleep, a wonderful relief from countless nights of insomnia.

* * *

"Ha! I win again!"

"You rig the cards! Those don't count as wins!"

"You're just sore that you've lost every round. Yeesh, it's only Go Fish."

Drayea scowled and folded her arms. She was a world-class blader, an excellent martial artist, pianist and computer hacker, she had an IQ of over 200…

But she _sucked_ at card games.

Riikka: 1, Drayea: 0

Riikka, the very smug winner of the past god-knows-how-many rounds, shuffled the cards mockingly in her hands.

"I take it this means you aren't going to play Poker?"

"Shut up."

The Finn's smirk broadened.

Riikka: 2, Drayea: 0

"Alright _Kori Hime_, lets see how good you are at Texas Hold 'Em." Mitsu challenged with a cocky grin. (**Kori- Ice, Hime- Princess**)

"You're on."

As Mitsu shuffled and started to deal the cards, Drayea got up when Vlad, the head butler who also answered the door among his many jobs, called up to her that she had guests.

Grumbling as she pulled on her navy blue robe, she was very wide awake when she came to the door.

"Tala? Bryan? What are you doing here?"

* * *

"Still fuming about the other night, I see."

Nadriya easily dodged the knife flung at her neck by a seething mad dragon. Lilja's only verbal response was an animalistic snarl. The hunting knife projectile, instead of embedding itself up to the hilt into the wall, was casually caught between two fingers, the owner not even bothering to open her eyes. The thrower of said knife turned to glare at the wall.

"Tæve." (**Bitch.**)

Their resident Greenlandic dragon was still pissed as hell that she'd been beaten by one of the Four Winds, and by Drayea no less. There was only one person they hated more than her, and she was reserved for Nadriya.

Their 'hideout', so to speak, was an empty concrete-walled warehouse with only two hanging lamps, one of them with a half-dead bulb, crates piled against the walls that served either as a place to sit or target practice, and a desk and swivel chair left behind by the previous owner, where Lilja was sitting.

Solongo, the only one who hadn't spoken, looked to her hooded teammate. The Mongolian girl almost never spoke, and when she did it was usually to throw a sharp-tongued insult or to command Quidel to attack.

"Oi, Solongo, which one do you want?"

The Mongolian wolf cocked an eyebrow in question at Nadriya's shouting.

"Which of those Four Winds bitches do you want to take down? Taylia's mine."

"Mitsu."

Lilja looked over her shoulder with a cynical expression.

"She speaks. Amazing."

Solongo in turn shot her a dark glare.

"Shut the fuck up you pain-in-the-ass whore bag." (**A/N: Ouch…**)

"What did you call me!"

Lilja lunged as if to try and kill her teammate leaning against the far wall, an aura in the shape of Ukaleq surrounding her being. Solongo remained calm as she was enveloped by Quidel's wolf-shaped aura, both bit beasts snarling viciously.

"Enough, you two."

All four of the girls turned their attention to the direction of the voice. Nadriya, annoyed by her teammates' behavior, decided to speak up.

"My apologies sir for their _lack of maturity_." She received a death glare from Lilja. "Things just went a little worse than planned when we made ourselves known to the Four Winds. Taylia very nearly torched me, and that Rothstein bitch came close to beating the living shit out of Lilja."

"My beyblade is still obsolete! I can't defeat anyone with something that puts a dampener on Ukaleq's real power!" The dragon protested fiercely, fists hitting the desk and clenched in her rage.

The figure in the shadows made a 'hn' sound when he smirked.

"That's why I came; the new prototype blades have been completed." He turned to the hooded blader in the corner, who had her arms folded and could have easily been mistaken for asleep.

"Nadina, I trust you kept your bit beast out of sight?"

The hooded blader smirked, unusually sharp canines glinting slightly.

"As commanded. Like I would _waste_ Korbinian's precious energy on _them_." She sneered.

"Don't get so cocky, and that goes for all of you. Each of the Four Winds is a lot stronger than she appears, _especially_ Taylia and Drayea. And need I remind you, our _Syevyerniy_ has Black Dranzer _and_ Arseni. She's a tag team on her own."

"Yes sir." Four voices replied simultaneously.

The shadowed figure smirked again and stepped into the light.

"The Four Winds and I have a reunion soon. I'm going to enjoy it immensely when Taylia and Drayea see their old friend Alekzander Nelyubova."

* * *

"You _what?_"

Tala sighed and started over.

"I found her in an alley living in a crate. It was getting dark and it was getting below zero, so I took her back to our place. I figured you would know better than any of us would what to do with a small girl."

Tala smiled.

"The little tyke took to Bryan almost immediately and wouldn't let go of him."

Drayea sighed as well and put one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead.

The sleeping little girl in Bryan's arms couldn't have been older than 5 or 6 years old, maybe even as young as 4. Her hair was a dirty brown color, pulled into 2 short, messy pigtails. Her small frame was covered by a brown half-length trench coat that could easily have been Riikka's size that reached down to her knees, one of which had a band-aid on it. She had two mismatched socks, one dark red with a hole in it and the other green with black stripes. The girl had no shoes.

At the moment, she had her arms around Bryan's neck with her head rested on his shoulder, asleep. Cute.

Drayea turned to Vlad.

"Call Riikka down here, would you?"

The butler nodded, bowed and left the room, probably to use the phone-intercom. When the door swung shut, Tala looked back at Drayea with a questioning look.

"Care to explain?"

Drayea's expression became gloomy.

"That's not my place to tell. It's a long story."

The Russian captain was silent in understanding. A moment later, footsteps running down the hall could be heard; Riikka.

"About time, Korpela." Drayea teased.

"Shut up; you forget that Mitsu is the fast one. Not a word about my height concerning it."

"I wasn't going to, but now that you mention it…"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

Tala just smirked and shook his head at the two, who were bickering like small children fighting because of some petty disagreement.

"Look, Riikka, the point is, you're the best with kids, and Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum over here found a little girl on the street. Would you _kindly_ make with the older-sister stuff?"

Riikka flipped her temporary captain the birdie before turning to Bryan, who had just roused the little girl from her sleep. The little brunette rubbed her eyes sleepily, letting her head rest on the falcon's shoulder as she stared tiredly at the two girls.

Cute.

The Finn's expression became sweet with a smile that probably made Bryan melt. Drayea smirked inwardly.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Have a nice nap?"

She nodded, and it didn't take a genius to see that she seemed happy to see a female face.

"Do you have a name, hon?"

"Anniina."

* * *

"Shit… he really let this place go."

Taylia's words came out in puffs in front of her, barely visible in the dark. Of course, it was only natural it would be dark; she was walking inside the huge vents hanging from the ceiling.

The 'place' that she was talking about was a huge, abandoned beyblade laboratory-slash-factory, and by the looks of it, it had been deserted maybe 2 or 3 years ago. The vents in the ceiling seemed to be the only things intact aside from the boilers. The walls and equipment were all charred and destroyed, making her wonder how or why in the world anyone would want to continue inhabiting such a dump.

Growing tired of feeling her way through the dark, she pulled off her backpack and rummaged around in one of the pockets before pulling out what she was looking for; a night vision eye lenses.

Using the stealth only an enhanced blader like herself could, she opened the vent door and leapt down the 40 feet, somersaulting the instant she landed to cushion the fall and eliminate the noise of her boots hitting concrete.

So far, so good.

Taylia pulled out an old, weathered blueprint of the building; it had taken hell _and_ high water just to get it.

_According to this, I'm 2 stories above the target._

Rolling it up and putting it back in her backpack, she hefted it back onto her shoulders and darted forward, never letting her footsteps linger too long to avoid making any unnecessary noise.

* * *

**Something doesn't quite feel right, mistress. It's far too quiet in here.**

Taylia paid no mind to Arseni's warning. She was already on high alert; if anything so much as moved, her reflexes were wound so tight she could probably launch her beyblade at it faster than it could get away or stop moving.

**Look out!**

Startled by Arseni's shout, the Russian girl dove to the floor with her hands over her head as several beyblades shot out of the wall at the empty space where she would have been standing.

_Goddammit Arseni, are you **trying** to get me killed?_

The four-winged phoenix had no time to reply when his mistress sprung to her feet and bolted down the hallway as the rest of the traps were triggered. The running quickly became an impressive array of acrobatic handsprings, spins and flips that would make a ninja pale.

As she neared the end of the hall, Taylia summoned all her strength and threw herself through the doorway of the elevator and slammed her fist on the down button, breathing a sigh of relief when it moved.

_Arseni, you are **dead.**_

**Eh…. Heh….**

The elevator engine groaned as it came to a halt at the floor her "target" was located. Flipping on the flashlight at the side of her lenses, Taylia warily and slowly stepped out, this time with both of her bit beasts' links blocked so they wouldn't have a replay of the first trap.

Her enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of something human, she ventured further into the dark to a severely-burned metal door. Pushing it aside, she stepped through and gasped as the 1 intact motion-detector light squeezed out whatever pitiful supply of energy was in it to flicker on.

It was a laboratory, not to her surprise, but what she found was what caught her off-guard. Broken glass was scattered all over the floor, shards embedded into the control panels and monitors whose screens had likely imploded with the four demolished confinement tanks, ports, wires and breathing masks hanging down from the machinery above. The largest of the monitors lined the entire front wall, forever black after something smashed through it.

Turning to the dark half of the room, her light hit something alive, which hissed violently before she turned it quickly away.

"Keep that damned light away from me…"

The voice was hoarse and croaky, probably from years of non-use. Taylia glanced over at the person through her night vision lenses and scowled darkly.

"Dr. K. So it is you." Her tone became even colder than the air. "Bet you thought I'd completely forgotten about you, _nyet_?"

The old man in the corner was silent a moment before bursting out into maniacal laughter.

"Taylia R. Strelnikov, so _that's_ who you are! I see you haven't changed much."

Now thoroughly angered, she shined the light back on the 'convict', who shrunk away, hands shielding his face from the bright light.

"**Turn that damned thing off!**" He shrieked.

Taylia, not amused, only turned it down to a dim shine, getting the old man to lower his hands. His face had sunken in, eyes bloodshot and his frame withered into almost a skeleton. It was his own inflicted punishment, and with his health went his mind. The man was insane.

"In case _you_ forgot as well, **nobody** steals from me and gets away with it, you bastard. You have two things that belong to me, and I want them back. **Now.**"

Dr. K grinned maniacally.

"What say you to a deal?"

Growing very impatient, Taylia lunged at him and grabbed him by the coat collar, hauling him to his feet so he was face level with her. Her eyes had narrowed into their hawk-like appearance, and the 'doctor' visibly paled at this.

"Okay, how's this; you give back what belongs to me, and I won't break your scrawny spine. Sound fair?"

She threw him back into his corner where the old man regained his composure. It took nerves of steel to stare straight into those eyes, and he was obviously lacking that trait.

"The blueprints are on a disk in the hard drive of the master computer…" He growled.

"That's better."

Taylia walked towards the main computer stationed at the back of the room to foresee all the others. Amazingly, the hard drive was the only thing intact, and sure enough was the disk inside.

"You'd better not have done anything to them, you senile old bastard." She snarled. "I spent 2 years designing the engineering to this particular model."

Dr. K laughed again, just as crazily as before.

"And all it took was 2 days to steal it from you! Oh, it was worth it, your HMS Z-Strata model is a masterpiece!"

Taylia just glared at him and slipped the disk into her backpack.

"If it's such a masterpiece, why were you unable to build it?"

Dr. K suddenly became very serious.

"Because that shit of a team captain _Kane_ thought it was _cheating_ to use someone else's model. Stupid brat…."

The Russian girl was silent, letting him fume for a moment.

"But I showed them, I showed them all! The cyber bit beasts were _perfect_! All that data, all that power, and it was all in the palms of my hands!"

_He's lost it…_

Taylia slowly pulled out her loaded HMS launcher.

"Listen old man, don't do anything stupid-"

Dr. K suddenly turned to face her, a crazed frown on his face.

"ATTACK! ATTACK HER MY CYBER BEAST!"

The old man threw a blade at the ground as if he expected it to launch and spin. Instead, it only clattered to the ground at her feet. Taylia smirked as she bent and picked it up.

"Thank you Dr. K. I'll be on my way now."

"ATTACK!"

* * *

Outside, the sun was slowly rising over the barren, icy wasteland that stretched for miles, the only thing showing over it being the tracks of her snowmobile. Pulling the beyblade out of her pocket, Taylia smirked victoriously as the sun's shine made the now-clean bit chip shine.

"It's mine… welcome to the gang, Cyber Dranzer."

* * *

**1) Halberd- it's a medieval kind of spear with a small axe-head on the side of it.**

* * *

**POLL: **

**Which of my OC's do you like the best? **

**1. ****Taylia **

**2. ****Drayea **

**3. ****Riikka **

**4. ****Mitsu **

**5. ****Danica **

**6. ****Nadriya **

**7. ****Lilja **

**8. ****Solongo **

**9. ****Nadina**

**10. ****Anniina **

**Yurii:** _It's me again, I just want to set a few things straight._

**ALL OF MY CHARACTERS' NAMES BELONG TO ME.**

_I spent the good part of **two hours** coming up with the names Drayea, Nadriya and Taylia as well as researching their surnames as well as the names of Riikka and Mitsu. **If anyone steals the name **_**Taylia****, Nadriya_ or _Drayea_, I will hunt you down and spoon-feed your intestines to you._**

_As for the girls' other names, I would suggest the use of sites with girls' and boys' names and their origins and meanings. I spent my valuable time looking up a shitload of names and choosing them, so don't make me kick your cyber ass for stealing them._

**Taylia:** Steal my name and die. (glares)

**Drayea:** Same here. (scowls)

**Nadriya:** (cracks knuckles)

**Yurii:** _If you can't think of a name, just **email me** goddammit. I'll offer my assistance if you need it. Yeesh._


	15. Soviet Knights: Profiles

**Soviet Knights: Profiles **

**

* * *

**

**Name:** Nadriya V. Ryzhov

**Nickname(s):** Nadia

**Age:** 18

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'6"

**Eyes:** Green

**Hair:** Black

**Nationality:** Russian

**Rank:** Team Captain- Soviet Knights

**Rival Wind:** North Wind- Taylia Strelnikov

**Beyblade Model:** Zimyatov HMS Gigus

-----

**Bit Beast:** Zimyatov

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Ice/Snow

**Species:** Dragon

**Attacks:**

Subzero Maelstrom (Offense, Ice/Snow)

Glacial Collapse (Offense, Ice/Snow)

Nor'easter Cleaver (Heavy Offense, Ice/Snow)

Arctic Shelf Barrier (Defense, Ice/Snow)

Force Blizzard (Final Attack, Ice/Snow)

Holocaust Deep Freeze (Final Attack, Ice/Snow)

* * *

**Name:** Lilja P. Aputsiaq 

**Nickname(s):** Lilly

**Age:** 16

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'6"

**Eyes:** Brown

**Hair:** Black

**Nationality:** Greenlandic

**Rank:** Blader- Soviet Knights

**Rival Wind:** South Wind (Riikka)

**Beyblade Model:** Ukaleq HMS Zero

-----

**Bit Beast:** Ukaleq

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Supernatural

**Species:** Demon/Dragon

**Attacks:**

Stellar Razor Bane (Offense, Supernatural)

Dark Lightning (Offense, Supernatural)

Ebony Night Saber (Heavy Offense, Supernatural)

Umbra Veil (Defense, Supernatural)

Typhoid Dusk (Final Attack, Supernatural)

Toxic Venom Bolt (Final Attack, Supernatural)

* * *

**Name:** Solongo D. Choybalsan 

**Nickname(s):** Solo

**Age:** 15

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'2"

**Eyes:** Black

**Hair:** Black

**Nationality:** Mongolian

**Rank:** Blader- Soviet Knights

**Rival Wind:** East Wind (Mitsu)

**Beyblade Model:** Quidel HMS Turbine

-----

**Bit Beast:** Quidel

**Gender:** Female

**Element:** Fire

**Species:** 2-Headed Wolf

**Attacks:**

Crematorium Heat Wave (Offense, Fire)

Pyro Infernal Star (Offense, Fire)

Vulcan Glaive (Heavy Offense, Fire)

Blazing Safeguard (Defense, Fire)

Mars Infernal Saber (Final Attack, Fire)

Vulcan Meteor Rain (Final Attack, Fire/Fire)

* * *

**Name:** Nadina 

**Nickname(s):** None

**Age:** 18?

**Gender:** Female

**Height:** 5'8"

**Eyes:** Black-Blue

**Hair:** Auburn

**Nationality:** German

**Rank:** Blader- Soviet Knights

**Rival Wind:** West Wind (Drayea)

**Beyblade Model:** Korbinian HMS Holocaust Zero

-----

**Bit Beast:** Korbinian

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Shadow

**Species:** Griffin

**Attacks:**

Illusion Chains (Offense, Shadow)

Shadow Veil (Offense, Shadow)

Holocaust Scythe (Heavy Offense, Shadow)

Unholy Citadel (Defense, Shadow)

Voodoo Nightshade (Final Attack, Shadow)

Oblivion Apocalypse (Final Attack, Shadow/Shadow)


	16. Cyber Dranzer: Profile

**Yurii:** _Hey, it's me! Just thought I'd be nice and give you **Cyber Dranzer**'s profile. _

**DON'T FORGET TO MESSAGE/REVIEW FOR THE POLL! _RIIKKA_ IS BEATING EVERYONE BY A LONG SHOT!**

**

* * *

**

**Blade Model:** Cyber Dranzer HMS Z-Strata

**Bit Beast:** Cyber Dranzer

**Gender:** Male

**Element:** Cyber/Static

**Species:** Phoenix

**Attacks:**

Cyber Ravage Talon (Offense, Cyber)

Metallic Heart (Offense, Static)

System Virus (Heavy Offense, Cyber)

Firewall Shield (Defense, Static/Cyber)

Power Surge (Final Attack, Static/Static)

System Shut Down (Final Attack, Cyber/Cyber)


	17. Important Notice!

**Yurii: **_Hey, my loyal readers. **REALLY IMPORTANT NOTICE HERE**._

_My bastard Dad is taking my computer out of my room, so my updates will take much longer, unfortunately. I'll do what I can to make the chapters longer for your enjoyment, though. _

**Don't be mad please!**


	18. Cold Hands, Warm Heart

**Four Winds**

**Cold Hands, Warm Heart**

* * *

**Yurii:** _I'm so proud of my last chapter! Betcha didn't see that one coming, nyet? ;) Anyways, **THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH TO MY REVIEWERS!** _

_This chapter will be mostly dedicated to the developing of Bryan/Riikka, Taylia/Kai and Tala/Drayea-ness. FEAR IT! XD_

**POLL RESULTS:**

TOP 5

**Riikka: 7 **

_Awwww! My little girl! Everyone loved Riikka to pieces - _

**Danica:** **5 **

_XD You all loved Danica, huh? Mostly because she's so evil… heh._

**Taylia: 4 **

_Ahh, the ever-popular badass team captain. She's probably my favorite as well… -;_

**Anniina:** **2 **

_She's just too cute - I almost wish she was my little sister_

**Drayea:** **2 **

_I didn't expect Drayea to get many votes. I can see there are people who love the 'homicidal' angsty-girl._

* * *

"It's late at night and it's breezing like hell out there, I am **not** letting you go out in that storm!"

"We're only an hour away!"

"I don't care! You're staying here tonight even if I have to lock you in the basement!"

If Bryan had been there, he would have rolled his eyes at the two redheads' childish bickering. Drayea was insistent that they stay the night while Tala was trying to convince her to let them go. However, resident falcon _was not_ in the room, thus, they received no eye-rolling.

"Fine, but we leave first thing in the morning."

Drayea: 1; Tala: Nada

* * *

"Anniina, you little minx, get back here!"

The now-clean, wet-haired little brunette girl shrieked with a huge grin on her face when the Finnish blader, wearing a predatory smirk, rounded the corner of the hall.

"Gotcha!"

Bryan, who just came out of Riikka's room where he'd been waiting, was tempted to smile when the Finnish blader successfully scooped up the little 5-year-old and had her balanced on her hip. Anniina was wearing one of Riikka's t-shirts, and even though said Finn was the smallest girl on the Four Winds team, it was still huge on her. The sleeves covered her elbows, and it came down to just above her knees.

**She seems almost like a mother to the child…** Falborg mused quietly.

Bryan was silent as he watched. They did seem almost like a mother and child…

_Mom…_

"Bryan? You okay?"

The Russian snapped out of his trance-like stare at the two when Riikka spoke, sounding… concerned?

"Hn."

He didn't catch her slightly saddened and hurt expression when he walked away, or Anniina's questioning look as she watched his retreating form (**He's so mean:( )**. The blonde girl's dejected look quickly became playful again when Anniina started to squirm impatiently.

"Alright you, lets get your hair dry and put you to bed, it's much too late for someone your age to be awake."

"But I'm not sleepy!"

Her protest was completely ruined when she let out a huge yawn and plunked her head on the blader's shoulder. (**I'm imagining it, and it's _adorable_**)

"Oh yes you are, and I should be getting to bed now anyways."

The little girl seemed to perk up immediately.

"Slumber party!" She shrieked excitedly, suddenly wide-awake again.

Cue sweatdrop. (-U)

_She's so cute. Just like…_

She stopped, refusing to finish the thought.

"Alright, but only if you let me dry your hair without complaining, okay?"

"Okay!" Anniina paused, then her face lit up as though she had a great idea. "Can Bryan come?"

Riikka halted in her tracks.

_She's too young to know what it means…_

"Uhh…. Maybe."

The girl was silent again, contented with the answer.

_It's going to be a long night…_

* * *

"God-fucking-dammit, didn't she leave _any_ of the doors open?"

Tala snickered from his place waiting in the huge library. Drayea, who was just down the hall, was trying to locate a spare bedroom, but was having no such luck. If it weren't for the possibility of her team captain's temper when she returned in 5 days, she probably would have kicked one of the doors down by now. He was sorely tempted to give her a good old-fashioned "I told you so."

Drayea: 1; Tala: 1

"You know, I could just crash on one of the couches in here or something."

The griffin, who had already stalked back down the hall, glared at him from the doorway, indignant.

"Taylia would slay me if she knew I let someone sleep on the couch. Then again, she'd slay me _period_ if she knew you and Bryan were spending the night."

"So why did you insist we stay?"

Drayea's face lit up with a devious smirk that almost made him want to smirk right along with her.

"Because she's threatened me with death so many times that it's just an empty warning. Besides, I can kick her ass any day."

Tala was silent, no witty comeback loaded into his 'mental slingshot of death'.

Drayea: 2; Tala: 1

"Well, since _el capitán_ didn't leave any of the rooms unlocked, you're taking my bed. I'm taking the couch."

At this point, Tala stood up.

"Whoa, hold up. I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed just because none of the rooms are open. I'm taking the couch."

"Hey, Taylia left me in charge of the place while she was gone, and I'm telling you that I'm taking the couch."

"Well, I'm not under your rule, so _I'll_ take the couch."

Drayea: 2; Tala: 2

By this time, the two arguing captains had already gotten to Drayea's room, giving Tala an idea.

"No, I insist –wha! **Tala**! Put me down!"

Drayea was stopped from protesting when Tala had ducked down, grabbed her around the waist and hauled her onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift. A victorious smirk plastered his face.

Drayea: 2; Tala: 3

"Dammit Ivanov, put me down!"

"Don't think so, babe."

Much to Drayea's surprise, he walked over to the bed, deposited her none-too-gently on the mattress, and walked over to the couch near the fireplace and sat down, propping his feet up.

Drayea sighed in defeat and exasperation.

"_Fine,_ be that way. But don't be complaining to me if your legs are asleep in the morning."

Tala glanced down the couch; sure enough, he was taller, and his feet hung over the armrest slightly.

…

_Shiiiittt!_

**Drayea: 3; Tala: 3**

Drayea, as if sensing that he was mentally kicking himself, smirked as she chucked a blanket at his head before she started to light the fire in the fireplace. However, she never got the chance when the lights suddenly died. A small shriek could be heard down the hall; Anniina.

"Drayea! Tala! Wait where you are, I'll find some candles!"

Riikka.

_Okay, stay calm… you're okay, there's nobody else here but Tala…_

* * *

Even in the dark, Tala could vaguely see Drayea's outline straighten up, her hand reaching into her pocket; probably where she kept her blade.

"Dray? Tala? Where are you two?"

"Over here!"

Through the open door, a soft orange glow became much brighter as Riikka entered the room, Anniina clinging to her nightshirt –which was really just a too-big, white long-sleeved shirt that fell off one shoulder and barely started to cover her legs; Tala smirked slightly at the thought of Bryan's reaction- with a lit candle in hand as well as several non-lit ones in her free hand.

Tala looked over to where Drayea was standing, his smirk became a look of concern. Her eyes looked almost… fearful.

Riikka lit two of the candles with her own and set them on the nightstand.

"I'm going to put Anniina to bed. Holler if you need anything."

With that said, she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Drayea, snapping out of her trance, briskly walked over to the window and opened the blinds. Outside, the wind and snow had escalated to a blizzard. A weak smirk came to her face.

"_Now_ are you glad you're staying here?"

Tala groaned in a mock-defeated manner, but kept his eyes on Drayea. Her reflection showed a panicky-looking expression. He recognized it immediately; it was definitely fear. It was just impossible to tell what it was she was scared of.

Drayea said nothing in turn and walked over to the bed, tossing her robe to the foot of the bed and lying down.

"_Gute nacht._" (**Good night.**)

* * *

"Okay, _now_ can you go to sleep?"

"I thought Bryan was gonna be here!"

Riikka sighed; Tala was right, she _did_ like him, almost as if he were some older brother she idolized.

"Alright, alright, I'll be right back."

Riikka slipped out of her room where Anniina was going to sleep, candle in hand.

"Looking for someone?"

She nearly dropped the candle in surprise when she came face-to-face with the smirking falcon she was looking for.

"Okay, two things: 1) _Don't bloody do that!_ (Bryan smirked again) And 2) Anniina won't go to sleep unless we're both there to watch her."

He raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhere between teasing and skeptical.

"I'm serious." She hissed.

Almost as if on cue, Anniina hollered out in search of her "sister".

"Ha. Score one for me."

Bryan just rolled his eyes, but followed her back into "Anniina's room" anyway (**It's actually Riikka's room**). The little brunette was sitting cross-legged on top of the sheets, rocking back and forth with a big grin on her face.

"Alright Niina, what's this about not listening to Riikka when she tells you to go to sleep?" Bryan asked with mock scorn.

"_Niina? Where did you come up with that?_" Riikka whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"_No idea._"

"_It's cute._"

"I don't wanna go to sleep yet, I'm not sleepy!"

Riikka sat on the couch; hers was facing the bed.

"Well, we're both in here just like you asked, so what can we do to make you fall asleep?"

(**A/N: I'm just going to call her Niina from now on**)

"Tell me a story!"

Both bladers blinked, the pause being long enough for Bryan to sit next to Riikka. He turned to the Finn.

"Know any good stories?"

"Nope. You?"

"None."

"Make one up!" Niina suggested.

Again, silence.

"Alright, but get comfy." Riikka commanded. "I'll be right back."

The blonde girl got up and disappeared into the dark half of the room a moment; sounds of her rummaging through her things stopped after she emerged from the dark holding a rust-brown stuffed dog with a curly tail; a Finnish spitz dog.

"Heh… I haven't seen Aatto in a long time…" She muttered with a weak smile; she was reminiscing.

Niina practically squealed at the sight of the toy dog and hugged it adoringly when Riikka gave it to her.

"Alright, let's see if we can come up with a story…"

She turned to Bryan, nudging him with her elbow to join in.

"Okay… once upon a time, there was a little princess…"

* * *

**Goddammit Tala, would you just go to sleep already? You know that if you aren't asleep, I can't sleep.**

_Put a damn lid on it, Wolborg._

The wolf was silent save for his grumbling to himself; Tala was more concerned about Drayea. He knew that look of bottled-up dread anywhere, and it had him worried. Taylia had admitted after the incident in the hallway with the ice, Drayea was very emotionally unstable, which she covered up with her calm confidence, composure and a sometimes violent demeanor.

"Dray? Hey, are you okay?"

The candles had long since burned out, but having cybernetically enhanced eyes allowed him to see even in the dark.

Said German was curled up into a fetal position on her bed, shivering even though she was well under the sheets and muttering that sounded almost like pleading.

A slight twinge in his chest made him sit up and look over to the restless griffin. She was asleep, fitfully at best, with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"Drayea?"

"_So kalt_..." (**So cold…**)

She was speaking in German, but he could still understand her, and it didn't sound good at all.

"_So kalt…_"

* * *

"**Shit** it's cold…"

_Damn my luck… stupid piece of crap snowmobile…_

Taylia growled under her breath as she trudged onward, her broken-down transportation lying abandoned in the knee-deep snow some 3 miles back. She was still a day's walk from any kind of civilization, and what had appeared to be a sunny day had melted into a snow storm.

The phoenix hugged herself tighter, thankful she had brought her scarf and full trench coat instead of just a parka. Unfortunately for her, ice and wind were Drayea's element, and it was dulling her senses despite her stubborn fighting to keep her body temperature up. Greenland and Russia weren't the same, no matter what anyone said.

_Arseni, a little help?_

She received no reply from the four-winged phoenix. Taylia really wasn't surprised; he was probably hibernating to retain strength. Even if his master was, Arseni wasn't well-adapted to extreme cold.

_Arseni?_

Only a moment after she spoke to the phoenix, a blinding, searing white pain exploded in her back, causing her to fall in agony.

"ARSENI!"

_Calm down, my mistress._

No sooner had Arseni reassured his mistress did the pain subside, but it was only for a moment before it came back twice as strong.

"AHHH!"

* * *

"…And they lived happily ever after."

There was a silent pause followed by two sighs of relief when both bladers found that Anniina had fallen asleep. Of course, Riikka wasn't that far behind herself. No one could really blame her, though. She'd been the one up and about basically taking care of everyone, and in the process had completely forgotten about the fact that she wasn't really dressed for the weather, so to speak.

Bryan caught it almost immediately when she shivered; of course, it didn't help either when his eyes travelled to her legs, which until now he hadn't noticed were bare.

_Smirk._

He was brought out of his trance when she suddenly shook her head furiously, growling to herself.

"Stay awake, dammit…"

Bryan almost smirked again. Since Niina had the bed, that only left the two of them to share the couch, and by the look of it she didn't want to fall asleep on him.

_Stubborn little wench…_

* * *

_  
Goddammit Korpela, you are **not** going to fall asleep, got it! You are not-_

Her internal 'mother-in-law' was abruptly cut off when she found herself being gently pulled into someone else's grasp… or rather, to be more accurate, their lap. Riikka looked up, alarmed and with her hands gripping two strong arms, to see that Bryan was staring down at her with an almost… soft expression.

"What are you-?"

"You're cold, and I've got heat to spare. I won't do anything, I promise."

That was probably the longest sentence she'd ever heard him say, but it was somewhat reassuring. Of course, whatever notion she had to retaliate was pretty much ruined when the falcon placed his ungloved hands on her shoulders –one of them exposed from the crooked collar of her shirt- and started to move slowly up and down her arms, the friction making her somewhat warmer… and sleepier…

_Shit._

* * *

Bryan smirked again when a very sleepy Riikka finally gave and leaned back against his chest, barely even awake. With the exception of her teammates, Riikka was probably one of the taller girls in the BBA (**she's 5'5"**), but because of her slender, almost delicate build, she had next to no cold tolerance when she wasn't able to raise her body heat herself.

His possessive smirk suddenly turned into a dark scowl when another thought crossed his mind.

Garland.

_Bastard woman-harasser. For someone trained in the martial arts, he doesn't know shit about honor. If he so much as gets too close…_

**Overprotective, aren't we?**

_…Shut up._

**In all honesty, I'm seeing this to be a good thing. Even if Riikka is strong by means of her will and mental strength, she lacks the physical force like that of her captain with which to defend herself.**

Bryan thought on this for a moment, his hands stopping their menstruations except for his thumbs which continued to stroke her skin. She'd already fallen asleep by then and was cuddled up to him in almost the same way as Niina.

_She seems so helpless…_

Riikka looked so vulnerable when she was sleeping; only in the way that her body subconsciously sought his warmth made him realize just how small and fragile she really was. Statistically, she was probably only about half his size, and even he could _just_ manage to hold his own against the BEGA captain. She was virtually helpless against him.

"_Saara…_"

Bryan looked down at her again, this time at her face, to see that her peaceful expression was gone and replaced by one of sorrow.

"Riikka…"

* * *

_  
"Arseni, attack! Omni Pyro Lance!" _

_"Gundula!" _

_The griffin shrieked helplessly as the four-winged phoenix shot into the air before plummeting down again head-first in a nosedive, smashing into the dish with so much force it caused her to be thrown back into the wall. _

_'I lost…' _

_The 10-year-old redhead could only stare at her still blade in shock; she never knew defeat until now. Looking back up again, the glaring powerhouse of a 9-year-old had been replaced by 17-year-old Taylia, who was staring scornfully down at her. _

_"Get up and fight, miserable weakling scum." _

_Drayea tried to scramble to her feet only to find that they refused to move properly. Taylia's scowl darkened at her attempts. _

_"Pitiful. It seems I'll have to teach you a lesson." _

_The small girl's eyes widened in terror as Taylia whipped out her launcher, already loaded with an all-too familiar black, bronze and green blade. _

_"Black Dranzer, attack!" _

_She tore out the ripcord, but it wasn't a beyblade that shot at her; it was a black phoenix's aura, beak open in a deathly-shrill war scream. _

_"NOOO!"_

* * *

Those same frozen blue eyes shot open as their owner sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and panting, her bangs plastered to her face.

Looking around almost frantically, she was relieved to find no battle dome, no Hermitage, and no Black Dranzer. However, it was still extremely dark, and even despite all her enhancements, night vision wasn't one of them.

"Drayea?"

The German slowly brought her legs to hang over the side of the bed, immediately taking to her sense of touch and remembering the pattern of the room. She easily slipped out through the door into the hallway, but even her best efforts at stealth didn't go unnoticed by two more blue eyes.

* * *

A dark figure moved noiselessly over the floor, shrouded in the shadows. Nobody was downstairs to stare, nor to question the bloody footprints that disappeared at the red carpet that started up the stairs. However, there was still one other very restless presence still up and about.

The figure slipped into their room, locking the door behind them and turning to the bed, not reacting even to see an unpleasantly familiar figure sitting there.

"Strelnikov."

The intruder received no response but a 'hnn'. Annoyed by the lack of reaction, all it took was for one light to be turned on.

* * *

With the dark figure fully in the light, Kai's eyes widened considerably when the sight before him came into view.

Taylia was standing there before him, slightly stooped over and bleeding severely from her back. It wasn't an animal bite or a training-inflicted wound. It was far worse. A pair of ebony-feathered wings stained with blood and ribbed with a gold armor exoskeleton had ripped out of her shirt, coat and back and were fully unfurled to a span of probably about 10 feet each.

"What the… what happened to you?"

Taylia merited his question with no response, instead stubbornly trying to move forward, only succeeding in sending a crippling pain up her back and collapsing to the floor with a cry of pain.

"Taylia!"

Worry was normally uncharacteristic for him, but this was really not the time to be concerned about that; his protective instincts had already kicked in. Next thing either of them knew, Kai was gently hauling the now-winged Russian captain to her feet, keeping a firm hold on her waist. She couldn't even stand by herself at this point and was almost clinging to him.

_Dranzer, what's wrong with her? Why are Black Dranzer's wings coming out of **her** body?_

His bit beast was silent in thought for a moment as he carried the girl to her bed and carefully laid her down on her front, not wanting to chance aggravating her wings by putting her on her side.

**… I don't know. All we can do now is let her rest and hope Arseni can control the other.**

Kai scowled down at the other teenager, who would occasionally hiss in pain, wings fluttering whenever she moved.

_This is why I didn't want you to have to carry the weight of Black Dranzer._

* * *

_  
Arseni… dammit…_

No reply, same as it had been for nearly 12 hours now. Something wasn't right. He'd responded fine out in the frozen tundra when she'd needed him, but now she couldn't even get Black Dranzer or Cyber Dranzer to talk.

**_Slimy mutated scum. Infesting _****my_ territory._**

Taylia snarled under her breath, trying to get up to her hands and knees. It was dark by now, and she couldn't remember when she'd gotten onto her bed.

_Don't you **ever** speak that way about Arseni!_

As if in defiance, Black Dranzer whipped out the wings on her back to full span, sending searing pain screaming up every nerve in her back. She bit down hard on her sleeve to muffle a yell of agony. Staggering to her feet, she practically fell against the full-length mirror, bracing her arms against the glass to stare rebelliously back at her own enraged reflection.

At least, she would have if her reflection was there. It was her, but her eyes had lost their deep crimson hue and were now solid gold; her hair had turned jet black, and a black aura in the shape of wings were folded behind her.

Taylia already knew she herself didn't look that way; that was Black Dranzer. There was one other thing she knew, and it had to do with both her and Arseni.

("**_Black Dranzer speaking_**")

"**_YOU. You're the one who allowed this to happen. LOOK WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME!_**" The reflection shrieked furiously, though the only sound was the dark phoenix's screeching in her head.

"This wasn't my fault; you _knew_ what that Nelyubova bastard did to me and Arseni, and you let me be your mistress anyway." She panted.

"**_LIAR! You never told me that THIS would happen! You bitch siren, you lied to me! I ought to-_**"

"You'll _what?_ Without me, you can't do _anything_, and you know it. Do you think _anyone_ else out there who is willing to –let alone be able to- control you so you can fight? I don't think so."

**_If I had known, I never would have agreed to fight with _****you_, you pathetic-_**

"AHHHH!"

Taylia's temper snapped the instant she knew what Black Dranzer was going to say as she swung her fist at the mirror with all her might, easily smashing it to bits and cutting her hand.

* * *

Hearing Taylia's yelling and the crash, Kai practically ran into the room to find aforementioned phoenix sitting on the ground, arms resting on her knees with the black wings gone and a bleeding wound in their place.

"I see you've discovered just what that bit beast is capable of."

In turn, he received one of Taylia's "shut-the-fuck-up" glares. He mentally breathed a sigh of relief; she was back.

"Gee, _thanks_ Sherlock. Did you figure that out on your own or did Watson help you?" She shot back snidely, only to scowl when Kai smirked weakly.

"Let me guess; I told you so, right?"

"Something along those lines…"

…

Silence.

"Can you stand?"

Taylia remained quiet and still for a moment before attempting to get up. Key word: attempting. Her efforts only made her fall back against the shattered mirror, causing the wound where the wings were to send still more pain up her back and adding more cuts.

"_Shit…_"

Kai watched her as she tried to get up again; she was so incredibly stubborn, it was almost astounding. He could only imagine how she was out on the battlefield with her beyblade.

After some three or four struggles, she slumped tiredly to the ground in the same position as before. She just didn't have the strength left to try again; he was impressed that she was able to try _once_, let alone several times.

Rolling his eyes in pretend annoyance, he walked over to her and offered a hand. Taylia looked up and stared at it, then looked up and stared him straight in the eyes like she always did.

"Why do you suddenly care about what happens to me?" She questioned suspiciously.

Her expression betrayed as little trust as her tone. In turn, his face became somber.

"…Because I went through the same thing. I was hoping that beyblade would have been buried under the rubble of the Abbey so no one else had to suffer."

Taylia raised an eyebrow, still wary.

"And _why_ the hell should I trust you? After those two incidents back in the lodge in Switzerland, I should be setting Arseni on you."

"Would you rather sit here and bleed all over the floor?"

She grimaced, knowing he was right. The wound on her back not only hurt like a bitch, but it was bleeding profusely, and with Arseni temporarily out of commission, he couldn't help her heal.

_I hate it when he's right._

* * *

**  
Requiem of a Dream? I haven't heard that one in a while.**

Drayea said nothing in response to her bit beast's comment. The griffin was trying her best to calm down her mistress, but so far her efforts proved fruitless. She was too shaken to really be comforted by just words.

"I didn't know you played piano."

The German girl didn't bother to look back; she already knew who it had been behind her for the past 15 minutes.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Hey... are you okay?"

"Fine..."

She could practically _hear_ his expression become skeptical.

"I don't even have to see your eyes to know you're lying."

Pause.

"...Hnn."

* * *

Tala sighed; obviously, this wasn't helping.

_Okay, time for Plan B._

"Any chance you can teach me?"

Drayea turned around, confused by the random question.

"Ehh?"

"Can you teach me to play something?"

She blinked, probably registering what he'd just asked.

"Um... sure. Take a seat."

Drayea moved over on the bench to make room for the other blader. Without looking up, she positioned her hands in front of her.

"Okay, first thing is that you have to know where your hands are going. It sounds like shit if you hit a wrong key when you're trying to hit another."

Tala gave her a blank stare, almost getting a smirk out of her; there was just a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Like this."

She leaned over and put her hands on his, guiding his fingers to the right keys.

_Her hands are cold._ He thought idly.

"Okay, the piano keys are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. I'm teaching you the only Russian song I know, and it's not too hard unless you try to do some of the fancy show-off crap."

Her hands still on his, she pressed down on a few keys on one hand in one pattern until he finally caught on.

"Is this what I think it is?"

This time, she couldn't suppress a grin.

"Yep. The only Russian song I know is the Tetris theme."

It wasn't so much the circumstances that made him laugh as much as the sheepish and somewhat cheesy grin on her face. Naturally, his laughter was contagious and eventually got Drayea laughing right along with him.

_She's beautiful when she laughs._

Now that he thought about it, he'd never really seen Drayea smile, let alone laugh.

"You're pretty when you're happy."

The words came out before he had time to register that he'd spoken; Drayea, in turn, ceased her laughter and flushed almost as red as her hair.

Cute.

Enter stage left: awkward moment.

Drayea looked down and realized that her hands were still on Tala's and quickly withdrew them, folding them in her lap and nervously twiddling her thumbs. It was so out of character for her he couldn't help but smile and take her hands in his larger ones, earning a questioning look.

"Your hands are cold."

She didn't ask any questions, nor did she protest. It was just… intimate.

"…thanks."

* * *

**  
Yurii:** _That was pitiful. I can't believe how monumentally this chapter SUCKED._


	19. Crashing and Burning

**Four Winds**

**Crashing and Burning**

* * *

**Yurii:**_ It's me! Sorry it took so long to update; the whole computer thing has given me very little time to write._

* * *

_Riikka Aila Korpela, you are never going to hear the end of this._

Mitsu's smirk very much resembled Danica's when she was up to something; much to the misfortune of a certain Finnish ram, she'd gone in early in the morning to check on Anniina only to find her teammate asleep.

In Bryan's lap.

With his arms around her waist.

_Smiiiiirrrrirk._

She was sorely tempted to fetch her camera and snap a few for the "photo album"… also known as her blackmail file. Mitsu never did anything _mean_ with them, but it came in very handy when she wanted to be a pain in one of her comrades' asses….

Or all of them.

It was one of her many "talents".

… and hobbies.

_I wonder if Zapadno is in the same predicament… I love revenge._

Silently shutting the door behind her, Mitsu practically glided over the floor to Drayea's room just down the hallway. Much to her surprise, the door was slightly ajar, and resident griffin wasn't in her room.

The sheets were unmade, so she couldn't have gotten up yet. The only other place was…

_The library._

Mitsu's devious smirk became a worried frown. The power outage last night had to have aroused an old but severe phobia of the dark, and knowing Drayea, she could have had one of her panic attacks.

_Wait._

Tala was in the same room. She would have kept it under control then, but the Japanese girl very highly doubted Drayea's fear remained undetected by the Russian captain.

Shaking off the thought, she jogged down to the library; the door was also open. This time, the smirk she'd been storing appeared when she found them sitting on the couch in front of the now smoldering fireplace. Drayea was leaned against Tala with her head on his shoulder, and said wolf had his head rested on hers and one of his arms lay loosely around her waist.

Her leer only broadened when she saw how close together their faces were.

_Hmm…_

* * *

_Mmm… morning already?_

Riikka didn't bother to open her eyes all the way; she was much too comfortable where she was.

…

_Wait just one god-fucking-damned minute._ (**o.o Riikka has a dirty mouth XD**)

Morning person or not, she was wide awake as soon as she remembered how she fell asleep last night; in Bryan's lap. Lo and behold, she hadn't moved from that spot.

Of course, even if she had wanted to, she couldn't; he had a gentle but vice-like grip on her waist, and struggling only made it tighter when she made the effort. Somehow, it became much more apparent how seemingly immovable Bryan was.

He was so strong… so very, very strong.

"**MITSU YUKI UTARIYMA, I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!!**"

Bryan immediately snapped awake, his grip on her tightening protectively thinking she was in danger when Drayea's enraged screeching rang throughout the house. A split second later, Mitsu bolted past the door running for dear life; Drayea passed by not long after, hands in the strangling position, and she never looked so murderous.

Mitsu was _toast._

Of course, the uncharacteristic evil thoughts vanished from her mind when Bryan let out a sigh of relief; she probably wouldn't have heard it if she wasn't being pressed against his chest.

_Awkward… If Mitsu took any pictures of this, **I'll** be the one out for blood._

* * *

While the female redhead was hunting down her teammate and Riikka was contemplating joining said enraged griffin, Tala was staring at the smoldering fireplace with a dazed look, still trying to convince himself of what just happened.

The reason behind Drayea being royally pissed was intended to be a dumb prank, courtesy of a certain _Vostoshniy_, and wound up as something entirely different. He knew they'd fallen asleep against each other on the couch the previous night, but they hadn't been that close together. All it took was for Mitsu to let out a loud yell, startle them awake and _accidentally_ knock their heads with her hands…

… to get him to kiss her.

Any logical thoughts in his mind were now turned to mush; now he was _really_ confused. Being a team captain, he was supposed to be good at making decisions; but right now, it wasn't really all that easy. Whatever affectionate thoughts he might have had about the other Russian team captain, suddenly Drayea's face was appearing instead of Taylia's.

_Great. Just bloody great._

Taylia or Drayea, Drayea or Taylia…

Decisions sucked.

**Girl troubles, I presume.**

_And I suppose you know how to get me out of this?_ He asked skeptically.

**Give me a little more credit. Just let me advise you on this; the colder the heart, the harder it is to reach and the better chance you have of getting there first.**

_You speak in riddles. Why can't you give me a straight answer?_

**This is one of those things that I can't give you the solution to. You've been given a choice, so make it, but choose wisely.**

Tala sighed out loud.

_Fine… any 'words of wisdom' to aid my decision?_

**Just one; Kai already has it bad for Taylia.**

* * *

"Hold _still_, I'm almost done." 

The response was a groan of impatience and an eye-roll. Taylia rested her cheek against her fist, elbow resting against one knee of her crossed legs. Kai returned the annoyed growl in a slightly more mocking tone, though his hands didn't stop with the bandage he was applying to her wound.

Normally, she was nowhere near this impatient, but considering that she was having to depend on the same person who should've been one of the last people to turn to (if at all… ever.) wasn't something she wanted to be patient about. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could leave.

"Done."

_About damn time._

"I don't want a word of complaint out of you; the last thing I want or need now is your bitching."

Taylia was sorely tempted to slug him a good one. Arrogant bastard.

"I could say the same of you, Hiwatari."

"Hnn."

Now thoroughly annoyed, the younger Russian started to get up when Kai grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

"I don't think so, _Strelnikov._" He growled with mocking emphasis on her surname. "You're still badly injured; you shouldn't be moving around."

"I don't give a flying fuck; you're not my mother."

"Are you always this stubborn?"

"So I quote you; hnn."

"You're such a pain in the ass."

"At least I don't have a stick up mine."

There was a long, stubborn pause while Taylia sulked a moment before shooting right back at him again.

"Bah. Why am I even listening to you? You have no authority over me."

She tried to stand up again, this time much more quickly and with force, but yet again she was pulled back down but this time to be pressed tightly against Kai's chest by one arm and putting her in a position where she was practically straddling his hips. Said blader was glaring back at her with the same bullheadedness as her, getting her to stare daggers defiantly in reply.

"No, but at the moment I'm physically much stronger than you are, and if I have to I _will_ use force." He growled.

Her scowl became a cocky, snide smirk.

She was issuing a challenge.

"Oh? And what, pray tell, will you do? Torture me?"

He smirked as well; challenge accepted.

"In the worst way possible."

Taylia leaned in so she was probably only a few inches from his face, giving him one of her coldest leers.

"Bring it on."

* * *

They say to be careful what you wish for since you just might get it. Unfortunately for the brunette Russian, that was exactly what happened. Next thing Taylia knew, Kai had grabbed her shoulder with his free hand and pulled her the remaining few inches, this time being much more gentle than the last time he'd kissed her. 

Taylia _froze._

Her hands were gripping Kai's arms, her eyes wide and betraying fear. This time, she couldn't count on anyone intervening, and she was starting to panic at the thought of a replay from her younger days as a more vulnerable and physically lacking trainee.

Rather than getting worse, she almost started to calm down when he soothingly ran his tongue along the line of her closed lips, seeking entrance again. However, it was only temporary.

_Please stop…_

Her eyes closed, not from the feeling but from righteous dread.

* * *

Kai, sensing that she was starting to panic, released her shoulder and brought his hand up to rest at the side of her neck, brushing the surprisingly soft skin with his thumb in what he hoped was a (somewhat) soothing motion. If Taylia completely lost it, it was likely that Black Dranzer would force his way out again. 

The grip on his arms loosened slightly; it was starting to work. Starting to get braver, Kai leaned in and kissed her just a little harder, trying to coax a reaction other than one of fear out of her.

_Goddammit…_

Taylia's mind was in inner turmoil; one minute she was spitting fire at the same bastard who'd come onto her back at the lodge, then the next her body functions took on a mind of their own and granted him the entrance he sought.

Whatever notion she might have had of biting back or trying to push him away went completely forgotten when he set right to massaging her tongue with his; damn, he had a talented mouth.

**_Fine._**_ If it's 'torture' he wants, 'torture' he gets._

Shaking off all insecurity, she took her hands off his arms and pulled his head even closer, burying her fingers in his soft navy hair and starting the fight for dominance. Hell, this wasn't just kissing; this was her tongue battling his in a very heated, fiery make-out session.

_Ha, how do you like **them** apples, Hiwatari?_

* * *

She got the chance to smirk when he finally pulled away, both of them well out of breath and flushed in the face. Kai still had his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, but given the circumstances suddenly became extremely away of the very prominent, very _female_ chest pressed against his as well as her hips that were aligned with his. 

Taylia opened her mouth to shoot back a sarcastic or snide comment but was cut off when a very rough second kiss was placed on her mouth, though this time Kai didn't bother restraining himself. By now, the younger phoenix had left all fear aside and was now trying to beat him at his own game of dominance; she was losing, but that didn't stop her from trying.

Kai leaned over a little further, forcing Taylia into a position where she had to crane her neck upward to retain contact. Deciding to surrender the battle this time, she grabbed the front of his shirt and let herself fall backwards onto her back, taking him with her.

* * *

Kai growled lowly into the younger phoenix's mouth, taking full advantage of having gotten the upper hand. His control was gradually slipping further and further out of reach, but by now he had no intention of trying to regain it. How often was it that he was going to get such a fiery and untamable specimen to submit to his will, let alone comply? 

Not often enough.

His body was starting to take on a will of its own, and it definitely wasn't of his own strength of character when his free hand slid down to her hip, fingertips gripping her side possessively, getting Taylia to put her hands on his broad shoulders as an almost reflexive response.

So, it wasn't just _his_ hormones.

Kai smirked against her lips, angling his head so their mouths fit more tightly together as he licked at her tongue, trying to prod her into another wrestling match; _shit_, could she kiss. Where she learned how, he didn't care.

* * *

Just as round two of their little fight for dominance started, Taylia winced when the abrasion on her back sent a sharp bolt of pain up to the rest of her torso. Kai, sensing that she was in pain, somehow managed to regain control of himself and pulled away, panting heavily and looking rather flushed in the face. She doubted she was any better off.

"Damn… you… Hiwatari…" She growled, winded, forcing back a cringe at the agony her back was putting her in.

Kai leered back at her, though his eyes betrayed concern for her condition.

"Where… the hell… did you learn… to kiss like that?" He panted, staring down at her from his place on all fours above her.

Taylia smirked, but rather than making her look intimidating, it looked _sexy_; he had to hold himself back at the temptation to go for round three.

"Studying… human… anatomy..."

Now it was his turn to smirk. So, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve, eh?

"So _you_ were the one that had the IQ of almost 200."

Taylia's look became a calculating stare.

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, someone has been gathering information about you and filling in yours and the other Four Winds' profiles on the BBA roster."

The younger Russian was silent, looking thoughtful for a moment or two.

"Alekzander…"

"Who?"

Taylia looked up, putting on a fake 'everything-is-fine' smile.

"No one… just a random thought."

* * *

"Please! Stop it!!!"

Cold brown eyes stared down at the screaming blader, completely indifferent as they moved up to the screen where the monitor displayed shakily rising statistics.

"It's becoming unstable! We have to stop the process!!"

Alekzander shot a dark glare at the scientist who'd spoken, who cowered under his chilling gaze.

"You will keep going until I tell you otherwise; I don't care what happens to the dragon." He growled.

The scientist turned worriedly to the screen, where sparks were beginning to fly from the overload. The containment tank in the center of the room was starting to crack, and the machinery was fried.

"Cease experiment and drain the tank. One of you take #459731 back to her cell and monitor it for the next 48 hours. Examine specimen every 3 hours, and if anything goes wrong, report to me immediately."

Two guards that had been standing sentry entered the room and picked up the unconscious blader by her arms, dragging her out of the room and down the dark hallway. From the shadows, green eyes watching narrowed in rage.

* * *

_Let's see… weight disk; complete. Attack ring; modified and completed. Base; in progress- 65 percent complete. Other gears; installed._

Taylia ran over the mental list in her mind, hands following on the keyboard as she entered the data. Apparently, the only thing that had changed about the HMS Z-Strata model when it was with Dr. K was the attack ring.

Stupid bastard.

If he knew anything about how to build beyblades, he would know **not** to **ever** increase the weight too much; that was the entire point of having a weight disk.

_Whatever; when I get all four Z-Strata blades built and customized, we're going to take the tournament easy._

She glanced over at the only finished model she had; the prototype HMS Z-Strata. At the moment, the only bit beast that it was safe to equip to it was Cyber Dranzer; Black Dranzer was already pissed and didn't need any more attention. Arseni hadn't responded since she collapsed in the snow, and that only left the newest edition to her "collection".

Grabbing the prototype's custom launcher, her newly-upgraded HMS-EZ Grip, she silently opened the door of her bedroom, looking around in the dark for the other resident phoenix.

Nothing… just total silence.

Slipping noiselessly outside, she failed to notice the phoenix-shaped aura watching her silhouette.

* * *

"Oh Miiiiiii-tsuuuuuuu!!!! Come out, come out wherever you are!" 

Said Japanese blader held her breath as Drayea passed her hiding place; the ledge above the door some 15 feet up.

_She'll never think to look here…_

**DING-DONG!!**

THUD!!!

"So _that's _where you've been hiding…"

Mitsu turned _slowly_ around to the source of the voice, where a menacing looking Drayea was standing, smirking and cracking her knuckles.

_Gulp_.

Luckily for a certain (doomed) lightning horse, Vlad answered the door before the griffin had time to maim and/or kill the Japanese girl. Seizing the opportunity to live, Mitsu bolted out the door so fast she failed to notice the blonde Russian standing there with a confused look. Drayea, in turn, ignored her completely.

"Hey, Spencer. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're here for your teammates?"

"You guessed right. Can I safely assume that Anniina is here as well?"

"Yeah, but I think she's still asleep up in Riikka's room. Come on in."

* * *

_Alright Cyber Dranzer, show me what you can do._

Taylia let her eyes close as she raised her loaded launcher, her stance putting her body into a tensed, solid position. The woods around her were totally silent; it should be, she had walked a good mile to get to a secluded spot. Arseni's bit chip on the HMS Z-Strata had been overlapped by Cyber Dranzer's, and the cyber beast was rearing for a test run.

"HAH!"

With a yell, she tore the ripcord out of her launcher, sending the prototype Z-Strata shooting out so forcefully it almost made her fall over despite her stance. A slight smirk graced her face; it worked well so far.

"Z-Strata, attack!"

She grit her teeth at the pain in her back when she raised an arm to point at her blade's target; a tree. The black, bronze and crimson blade shot towards it at incredible speed, smashing clear through the trunk and reducing it to toothpick-sized splinters of wood.

"Heh… I guess the crazy old man was right, this thing _is_ a masterpiece… Cyber Dranzer, return to me!"

She held out her hand, the action and command being followed by the blade shooting into her hand.

"So, that's what you were out here to get."

"Do you _stalk_ me or something?"

She could practically hear the smirk forming on Kai's face.

"I don't need to; you're not very stealthy."

Taylia snorted and proceeded to re-load her launcher with the prototype blade.

"Well, to answer your query, yes; I came out here to get back a beyblade. Is there a problem, _Mom_?"

It was her turn to smirk when she got a typical "hnn" in reply. How predictable.

_Click. WHIIIIIRRR._

"Take your stance."

Sensing the competitive edge in his tone, Taylia turned around to see Kai now standing in his blader's stance, launcher loaded and aimed at her.

She smirked and turned around, backing up to make room for a battlefield as she raised her launcher and loaded the ripcord.

"3, 2, 1, LET IT RIIPPP!!!"

* * *

"Kazic, evasive maneuver!" 

Johnny grit his teeth as Danica's newly upgraded Kazic HMS Tsunami was blading circles around him…. Literally. Considering that the arena looked like what Danica called 'the sulfurous abyss of hell/my abode' (**Heh**), he should have had the advantage, what with Kazic being a water type.

Instead, he was getting his hotheaded Scottish ass served to him on a silver platter by a girl 2 years younger than him and almost a foot shorter.

Said dragon smirked at her teammate's frustration. She'd worked out all of their weaknesses and could easily utilize them to her advantage. Johnny was easily angered and was usually blinded by it, Enrique was cocky and overconfident and could be overwhelmed when he started to lose. Oliver's maneuverability wasn't very good while hers made it her specialty in blading, and Robert's downfall was about Enrique and Johnny combined; get him mad, and he'd get cocky. From there, he lost control.

Easy.

"Finish him!"

A distant roar echoed throughout the stadium as Danica's blade charged and smashed Johnny's out of the dish and through the wall behind him.

"And the ending score is Danica: 17, Johnny: Nada."

The redhead shot her a dark glare as he picked up his blade, she folding her arms and grinning triumphantly.

"Man, now I'm seriously starting to miss that one sparring session I had with… what's her name, that Finnish gal… _Riikka_. You could learn some moves from her."

"Bah. If we stink so bad, why don't you go back to your _boyfriend_ in Russia? I believe it's _Ian_, right?"

Twitch.

"I'll give you a 5-second head start to run."

* * *

"Attack!!!"

"DRANZER!!!"

"CYBER DRANZER!!!"

Metal grinding against metal was drowned out by two phoenixes' war cries, one shrill and ancient, and the other mechanical.

Both blades were thrown back, wobbling at their panting masters' feet, getting a short exchange of competitive smirks before they both let out their own battle yells and charged right back in again, running on empty but still going.

"CHARGE!!!"

All it took was that last attack, and both bladers were out of the match. However, when they stopped spinning the damage was much more visible; Kai's Dranzer HMS Gigs was thrashed while Taylia's prototype blade was completely intact.

"Not bad, Hiwatari. You may want to get an upgrade from last tournament's model, though."

Kai looked up at her with a quizzical look.

"What type of blade is that?"

Taylia sighed with a smirk and plopped down on a tree stump, her beyblade in hand and looking at it.

"It's called the Heavy Metal System Zero-Strata, HMS Z-Strata for short. Technically, it's not a type of blade; it's a specific model I spent two years designing and engineering. Dr. K stole it from me when he heard about it, so I came here to get it back. I figured now would be as good a time as any since this is the year that my team enters the World Tournament."

Kai was now leaning against an upright tree, arms crossed; she could tell by his posture that he was listening.

"As well as that, I figured that since this place is so rural it would be a good place to test it. Unfortunately, I had a little interference." She finished, her tone becoming bitter at the last sentence.

He remained silent, not sure whether she meant Black Dranzer or him.

Or both.

Either way, it didn't matter. His current mission _now_ was not only to get her to tell why and how she got Black Dranzer, but Cyber Dranzer as well.

_She's more trouble than she's worth._

"Great. I must've picked up Riikka's motor mouth disease."

"In that case, let me help you."

"What are you-?"

Silence.

* * *

**I bet you can guess what Kai did ;)**

* * *

"The public buses are shut down until the roads are plowed clear, so I had to drive down here. You can imagine how much fun _that_ was."

Drayea nodded in full understanding. The other Blitzkrieg Boys were somewhere in the house probably still in the process of waking up, Riikka was trying to get a rather cranky Niina up, and Mitsu was somewhere outside likely to be plotting revenge.

The world fears.

"Hey, has anyone seen Mitsu?"

From behind her mug of chai, Drayea smirked widely. Her blonde teammate, who had asked the question as she came into the kitchen, tossed her a questioning look.

"You may want to look outside for that answer, Riikka. You might say she's getting _cold feet_ about showing her face in here after that stupid stunt she pulled."

Riikka's expression was blank.

"You ran her outside again, didn't you."

"Yep."

"In her pajamas?"

"Yep."

"… You are so bad."

"I know."

"But… if you put sadistic ideas in Niina's head, I'll have _your_ head. Got it?"

Drayea mock-saluted, sitting up at attention in her chair while Spencer watched with amusement.

"_Oui, capitaine_!" (**French for 'Yes Captain!'**)

"At ease, soldier."

Niina, who by now was wide awake, immediately lit up when Spencer turned to face the Finnish blader.

"Spencer!!!"

The tall Russian actually smiled when Riikka put down the squirming girl, who ran to her "other brother" to hug his leg.

Drayea smiled as she got up and headed for the stairs.

"I'll go and get your teammates. Back in a few."

* * *

The griffin disappeared through the swinging door, which through a moment later passed a blue-faced and very worn-out looking Mitsu. Without saying a word, she sat down next to Spencer and let her head fall and hit the table with a painful '**BANG**', earning cringes from both the Russian and the Finn.

"_Хорошее утро_!" Niina said cheerfully. (**Good Morning!**)

Mitsu turned her gaze sideways and gave her a tired smile, affectionately ruffling her hair with one hand before letting it drop limply down to her side again.

"Hey, _Chibi_."

She looked up at Riikka questioningly, chin still on the table.

"I assume that since there's the risk of you burning down the kitchen that I'm doing breakfast again?"

Mitsu earned a glare, getting her to smirk and get up to turn on the stove.

"Heh. Oi, _Chibi_, what'll it be?"

Niina looked thoughtful a moment from her place sitting in Spencer's lap before Riikka butt in.

"Isn't the only thing you can make pancakes?"

Mitsu leaned against the counter and gave her teammate a mock-pout look.

"Awwww, that hurts. Gimme a little more credit, She-Who-Burns-Everything."

"… I hate you."

_Grin._

* * *

"Yo, Bryan, your buddy Spencer is downstairs; I suggest you pick up the pace on whatever it is you're doing in there."

Drayea's only reply was a grunt which she assumed meant "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Walking down to her own room, she was partially surprised to find the door shut.

"Tala? Are you decent?" She asked, rapping on the door lightly with her knuckles.

"Yeah."

Unfortunately for Drayea, she didn't stop to think about their very _different_ definitions of 'decent' when used in that context. Of course, she wasn't complaining when she opened the door as Tala was turning his black shirt right-side in again… which meant he was standing there without one on.

Normally that wouldn't really bother her, but add this factor; his hair was wet from having just gotten out of the shower and was hanging down. Whatever water was still clinging to his hair was dripping onto his shoulders and running down his chest.

Tala looked _hot_.

"Ehh…. Your teammate is downstairs waiting for you. Just so you know."

"You mean Spencer? Figures. I'll be down shortly."

Drayea turned quickly and walked briskly out of the room, face flushed deeply and trying to fight a slight nosebleed.

_Shiiiiiiittt!!!_

* * *

"Just admit it; I'm a better cook than you are."

"No."

"Say it."

"_No._"

"Saaaaayyyy iiiiiiitttt."

"**NO.**"

Mitsu just shrugged before swiping a pancake off of Riikka's plate and stuck her tongue out at the Finn, who had her arms folded and was trying to refrain from hitting her over the head with the griddle.

Niina was sitting next to the blonde girl, barely tall enough to reach the table even though she was sitting on at least 3 phone books, but the mess she was making with the syrup would have made Danica proud.

Oi….

Bryan and Tala had both come down about 15 minutes after Drayea left, and said German was now fully dressed and sporting a blush every time she and Tala made eye contact. The other blader was no better off. Mitsu, taking secret glee in the mortification of her teammate, forced herself not to smirk openly.

It wasn't working too well.

Spencer, catching on that Mitsu knew something no one else did, casually (and inconspicuously) leaned over.

"_What are you up to_?"

"_The accidental matchmaking of the two redheads you see at the end of the table. So far, it's working._"

"_You need a hobby._"

Smirk.

"_I know._"

* * *

"About time you got back."

Taylia smirked at Drayea's remark as she started to unpack her duffel, pulling out a silver case. The others were waiting around the room; Mitsu was sitting at her desk and Riikka on the couch.

"Well _sorry_, your Highness. Might I ask how things went while I was away?"

"It was… interesting."

When it had come time for the Blitzkrieg Boys to leave, they had spent so much time inside that some kind of complication with the car had made Riikka's little 'talent' known. The girl was a brilliant mechanic and had given the thing a touch up.

Of course, Drayea had intentionally left out the part about the boys staying over after they had dropped off Niina. Speaking of the little girl, while their captain was gone, the stories Mitsu and Drayea had told her about Taylia had made her think of the Russian phoenix as some kind of divine being.

"And how, might I ask, was Greenland?"

Taylia smirked.

"_Cold_."

Drayea raised an eyebrow.

"There were a few minor setbacks, but I got what I went for."

Digging to the bottom of her back, Taylia pulled out a silver case and flipped open the latches, pulling up the top to reveal 4 brand-new beyblades.

"You already know the three types, Strata, Gigus and Initial (MS, GT, etc.) are what determine the blader's basic statistics. Strata types are generally built for attack, Gigus for strategy and/or endurance, and Initial types vary."

She held up the silver case with the HMS Z-Strata models.

"These models combine Initial and Strata type parts, but the model is different with each blader. They're all tweaked to fit their owner's style and stats, and it has a specific name so that they can be easily recognized."

She continued.

"All of my custom beyblades are Armageddon. When I hook up Arseni to it, the blade will be called Arseni HMS Z-Armageddon. Drayea's blade is the Gundula HMS Z-Scythe, Mitsu's is the Raiuma HMS Z-Columbine, and Riikka's is the Ukko HMS Z-Sonic."

Each of the Four Winds had a confident smirk on their faces, and even though they knew what kind of training they were in for tomorrow, it didn't matter.

This tournament was theirs.

* * *

**_Tap._ **

"Nnn…"

**_Tap._**

_Goddammit._

It was way too late at night for anyone to be up at this hour… well, aside from Taylia.

Damn insomnia.

"Whoever is throwing rocks at the window is going to get their ass flambéed."

Stalking over to the window, she threw it open only to have someone's black-and-green-gloved had clamp over her mouth.

"Don't try to struggle, Strelnikov. I'm not here to fight."

Narrowing her eyes at the all-too familiar voice, Taylia threw a punch at the owner of the hand, who let go to dodge. The brunette leaped back, grabbing her beyblade and launcher off the desk and preparing to battle.

The person at the window leaped into the room and landed smoothly on their feet, bringing their face into the light.

"You'd better have one hell of a reason for breaking into my house in the middle of the night, Ryzhov." Taylia growled, aiming her loaded launcher at the other Russian's face.

Nadriya put her hands up defensively, though her expression remained void of any emotion and her eyes ice cold.

"I already told you, I'm not here to fight." She groaned and scowled. "I can't believe I've lowered myself to asking _you_ for help."

Taylia glared at her, though her eyes hadn't reached the point of becoming hawk-like and predatory.

"Considering the circumstances, I wouldn't say you're in any position to be insulting me." She growled. "What is it exactly that you need me for that you can't do yourself?"

Nadriya lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Something's wrong with Lilja."

Taylia raised an eyebrow, lowering her launcher.

"Since when do you care about _anyone_, Nadriya?"

The black-haired dragon shot her a dark glare and advanced a step.

"I suggest you take that back, _Strelnikov_. I do have a conscious, contrary to what you may think."

"And right now, _I_ suggest slowly and calmly explaining to me what the fuck is going on."

Nadriya sighed and leaned back against the window frame, arms folded and a mournful scowl on her face.

"About a week ago, Lilja's blade started to malfunction before Alekzander did something to her bit beast. I'm not sure what, but Lilja has become extremely hostile and acts just like Ukaleq."

If the situation wasn't so serious, Taylia would have laughed.

"I see… Show me to her."

Nadriya stood up and jumped up to the window ledge before leaping out into the dark some three stories up. Taylia followed only a minute later, landing in a crouched position, her trench coat fluttering down into the snow. Nighttime was far colder than the daytime, and she really didn't feel like having to keep warm by herself.

Apparently, the older Russian had ridden over on a black snowmobile, which was parked about a block away in the trees behind the house. The dragon tossed her a tinted-lenses helmet, which she caught effortlessly in one hand.

"Put it on. If the guard sees us, he won't ask any questions if he doesn't recognize you."

Taylia's void expression became untrusting and angry at the word 'guard'.

"You didn't say anything about guards. What are you up to, Nadriya?" She demanded, about ready to throw the helmet back at her.

The green-eyed Russian cast a meaningful look, almost catching her off-guard.

"You lived down there just like most of us did, and you know the things Alekzander does. I want to know why my teammate is acting the way she is. I thought that you of all people would understand that kind of concern, after what you did to the BEGA captain for laying hand on Korpela."

Taylia was taken slightly aback.

"How did you find out about that?"

Nadriya didn't reply immediately, stopping to put on her own helmet.

"I have my ways. So are you coming or what?"

Still skeptical, Taylia turned her head to stare hard at her with one eye.

"Is this a trick, or do I get something out of this as reimbursement?"

"I had a feeling you'd ask that. Tell you what; help me, and I'll give you a duplicate of my beyblade model."

There was a long, pregnant pause.

"Throw in a copy of your profiles and we have a deal."

"Fine."

Putting on her own helmet, Taylia mounted the back seat of the snowmobile, gripping the sides with her legs as Nadriya slammed on the gas and took off.

* * *

"This way, and be as quiet as humanly possible; if we're caught, all of us are as good as dead. The others are standing watch." 

Taylia narrowed her eyes at her rival's back. Of course, _now_ she chose to warn her about all possible and imminent threats.

Bitch.

Deciding not to dwell on it, she silently thanked whatever god, demon or deity up there for her self-control, but it was short-lived when Nadriya turned around and stopped her with an arm.

"Just be warned; Lilja may not be as physically strong as you are, but right now she's not in her right state of mind. She _will_ attack you if you get too close."

Again stated: bitch.

"And you failed to tell me all this sooner… _why?_" She hissed.

Nadriya said nothing and continued down to the metal door at the end of the hallway where the other two Soviet Knights were standing around looking bored. Solongo was the first to look up, giving her captain a look that said "about damn time."

"Not a word." Nadriya growled.

Of course, their hooded blader couldn't help but look up to glare darkly at the phoenix, who in turn returned it with a sub-zero glare of her own.

"What's _she_ doing here?"

Much to the surprise of everyone, Nadriya stepped defensively in front of Taylia, glaring back at her teammate.

"She's going to diagnose whatever is wrong with Lilja, now step aside, Nadina."

_Nadina… isn't that Drayea's middle name?_

Shaking off the thought, Taylia slowly approached the door and flipped up the lock with equal care and caution. The last thing she needed was a huge ruckus to get her caught. As she started to push the door open, the rusting hinges let out a blood-chilling groan, causing a pair of dark amethyst eyes to flicker to life somewhere in the dark.

A feral, animalistic growl followed warningly.

Taylia's eyes instinctively lit up in a challenging reply, her actions getting Lilja to shift warily. She was getting poised to spring.

Rather than waiting, Taylia walked straight in, keeping a slow and unthreatening pace, eyes locked on Lilja's.

"Come out of there Lilja. I'm here to help."

All it took was the sound of her voice to set off the Greenlandic dragon, who launched herself at Taylia and swiped at her face, missing when the Russian phoenix easily dodged it. Said brunette's eyes narrowed when she saw that the other girl's posture had become hunched over, just like the way Ukaleq stood.

"One of you, restrain her!"

Solongo stepped into the holding cell and caught her teammate in an arm bar with the kind of swift movements that she'd only seen Mitsu use, easily pinning the snarling dragon to the floor.

"Alright Lilja, lets see what's wrong with you…"

* * *

Outside, Nadriya and Nadina waited impatiently for Taylia and Solongo to return. Fifteen minutes later, a howl of agony was followed by both bladers quickly exiting the cell and shutting the door. Taylia turned around only to be seized by the throat and slammed against the wall by a fuming Nadina, who was letting her dangle a few inches off the ground.

"What the fuck did you do?" She snarled.

Trying to force back choking, she managed to wheeze out, "Blood… sample…."

"Put her down."

Nadina grunted in response to her captain's orders and stalked off. Taylia, who was rubbing her sore neck, turned with a sarcastic look to the two Soviet Knights.

"Well, isn't _she_ just a _ray of sunshine_."

Solongo rolled her eyes, but Nadriya was more interested in her teammate's condition.

"So, what the hell is wrong with my blader?" She demanded, folding her arms sternly.

Taylia's face fell as she sighed and tossed Lilja's charred blade to Nadriya. The Russian took one glance at it before her eyes widened and she let out a horrified gasp. Taylia remained emotionless.

"That bastard Alekzander **mutated** Ukaleq. Just like he did to Arseni."

* * *

**Yurii:** _DUN DUN DUN!!!_ _-whew!- I made this one nice and long just for you guys! Sorry if it sucks!_ _T-T_


	20. Winds of Change

**Four Winds**

**Winds of Change**

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:**_ Hello, my loyal viewing underlings! Hope you weren't too disappointed by the wait. Doing this is murder._

_I was disappointed by the incredibly short reviews, save for DaCow Takao (THANK YOU!!!). Shame on you all! I DO THIS FOR YOOOOUUUUUU!!! –sob-_

**

* * *

**

"Attack!!!"

**BLAM!!!**

Two exhausted bladers slumped to the ground, their beyblades spinning to a halt in the dirt. Around them, the trees and earth had been turned upside-down not just by their bit beasts but the HMS Z-Strata blades as well. Drayea looked down at her midnight-blue Gundula HMS Z-Scythe.

Mitsu had left nearly 7 hours ago when she got a call; her boyfriend was in town. She'd taken off looking happier than any of them had seen her in a long time.

"She wasn't kidding when she said this would be hard." Drayea panted.

Riikka groaned in agreement. Taylia, who was currently in bed with a minor fever, had warned them as they went out to train about their powerful new blades.

_"These blades are nothing like your old ZS models. The entire time before the tournament is going to have to be spent getting your stats up so that you can achieve the levels needed to properly control them."_

"Damnit…"

As if things weren't crazy enough already; they now also had to worry about the threat of the Soviet Knights, the tournament which was now only 6 months away (**half a year has passed**) and was seeming to pass by at a pace far too fast for them to keep up with, and lastly, their was the fact that there was now Anniina to take care of.

Well, back on topic to their current situation with their new blades. Their old attacks appeared to be holding back their blades, and according to Drayea and her hypothesis, they would have to come up with at least 1 new attack to outshine all of their current ones if the spiritual power of their bit beasts and the force of the will power that drove their beyblades were to even out.

Of course, it wasn't all bad. When Anniina had first seen Taylia, she had suddenly decided she wanted to beyblade.

Taylia being Taylia had dug out one of her old blades, the former Arseni V-2 and given it to her, but the little girl wouldn't be getting any lessons from her until their team captain had caught up on her sleep, which left Drayea, Riikka and Mitsu to the task, and seeing that they'd never taught before they all three decided to wait until Taylia was back up to health. She hadn't explained why she was suddenly susceptible to such a common sickness, but they weren't asking questions.

**

* * *

**

While her teammates were outside, Taylia's room was dark, the shades drawn and the lights off, but she was lying awake and staring tiredly at the ceiling. The last few days up in Greenland had been… _interesting_ to put it lightly.

The entire time when she wasn't training, Kai seemed to jump at every opportunity to either

a) Ask how and why she got Black/Cyber Dranzer

Or,

b) Issue a challenge for a "rematch", so to speak.

_Damn, that man can kiss._

The Russian girl groaned and rolled over onto her stomach so she was lying facedown on her pillow.

Stupid Kai and his stupid charming-ness…

_Oi..._

Now she _knew_ she was in over her head; she was using words that weren't… words.

"_Daaaaaammmnnnn iiiiitttt…_"

Her session of wallowing in self-loathing was interrupted when the phone rang. Almost at once, her hand fell heavily on the receiver and closed around it before dropping next to her head so she could hear.

"Strelnikov speaking."

Probably only half a minute later, she sat bolt upright in bed, now wide awake and wearing an expression that was a mixture of worry and rage.

"I'll be right over!"

* * *

"Where is she??" 

While Bryan tried to calm down a raging Taylia, Ian was smirking to himself; he was in an unusually good mood today, for two reasons.

1) Danica had _finally_ written a response to his letter (which he'd carefully assembled to let out an ear-splitting BANG when she tore it open), and in turn she'd rigged hers so he got a face full of dark blue pen ink when the envelope was opened. The letter itself had been skillfully glued shut, and it had taken him nearly an hour to figure out that the message was somehow written on the _inside_ of the envelope. Yes, it was nice to have a worthy opponent in the game of practical jokes.

2) Apparently, the Four Winds' team captain was a complete maniac behind the wheel, if it was any indication by the fact that Riikka had literally thrown herself out of the car and was kissing the ground all the way up to the doorstep, chanting over and over again that she would walk for the rest of her life if it meant she wouldn't have to ride with Taylia driving again. Drayea, who was wearing a look of absolute terror that one only gets when he or she knows they are about to die, had simply opened the door and fallen out in the snow with her seatbelt still on and lay there in shock for a good 5 minutes.

He turned back to his taller teammate, who by some miracle had gotten Taylia to stop fuming. Now, she'd resorted to pacing from one side of the room in a furious pace. Drayea and Riikka were standing around the room, the elder leaning against a wall in a typical Kai pose, examining their temporary residence, a good-sized log cabin. His attention went back to the pacing phoenix, who was muttering something about killing someone.

Ian had to admit, as crazy as she was, he respected Taylia's devotion to her friends.

_No wonder she became a team captain._

* * *

"I found her sitting in an alley some 24 blocks away from where you said she was going, and she wasn't in too good of shape, like someone beat her up."

Taylia sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head. According to Bryan, who had been the one who'd found Mitsu nearly 2½ miles away from where her now ex-boyfriend was staying. He'd somehow deciphered through her sobbing that she'd found him cheating on her with one of her former teammates and had attacked her when she'd told (screamed) him to go to hell.

"Spencer was absolutely furious when he found out; he also bandaged her up, she should be up in his room right now. I'm surprised she got that far away, since it looks like she sprained her ankle."

Taylia turned her head to the stairwell, her expression betraying that she was debating whether or not to go up there and retrieve Mitsu. Drayea beat her to the punch when she stood up and lazily headed for the stairs.

"I'll get her."

* * *

"Stupid bastard…"

Spencer ignored the comment, knowing it wasn't directed at him, and continued to carefully bind the upset horse's ankle. Mitsu had been in pretty bad shape when he first got a glimpse of her; Bryan had been forced to restrain him to keep from hunting down the bastard and, well, killing him.

He looked up, still slightly disappointed that her hair was still hanging in her face. The bun had come out in the back, making it look much longer. Shame, though; she had such a pretty face.

"There. All that's left to do is your face."

Mitsu immediately sprung to her feet, staggering slightly when she put weight on her bad ankle but keeping her face shadowed by the jet-black hair.

"No! No, I'm fine, I can do that myself!" She insisted worriedly.

"Mitsu, I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're thinking." He said soothingly, hands up in the universal sign of peace.

"I said no! It looks hideous!" She insisted, waving her arms around to ward him off.

Spencer dared to advance a step, getting an even worse reaction out of her.

"Leave it!"

Staring at where he assumed her eyes were, he gave her a look of pure concern and worry.

"I promise, I won't do anything to hurt you. I'm just trying to help. If I'd wanted to harm you, wouldn't I have done so already?"

Mitsu was quiet and remained that way when he stood in front of her; however, when he reached out a hand, she jerked her head to the side stubbornly.

Not about to be defeated so easily, he gently turned her head to face him with one hand, the free one brushing her bangs aside to reveal a teary pair of green eyes marred by blood from a cut on her forehead and a dark bruise on her cheek. His eyes softened almost immediately; the thought that anyone could betray her broke his heart.

"Now you see why he probably cheated on me. Damnit… I look like shit with all these injuries-"

She was cut off from her nervous babbling when he leaned in close.

"I think you're beautiful."

**

* * *

**

Hands in her pockets, Drayea lazily walked down to the bedroom at the end of the hallway, which Bryan had pointed out to be Spencer's room. The door was slightly ajar, not unlike the others. She could easily hear her taller teammate's ranting when she was suddenly quiet. Suspicious, Drayea went into stealth mode and glided noiselessly to the door, just peeking inside.

_A-HA. Just wait until I get **my** revenge._

Lo and behold she smiled when she saw what was going on in there; Spencer was kissing Mitsu. The Japanese girl was frozen in shock of the action, getting the Russian to pull away when she didn't react.

"Mitsu…"

The Japanese blader backed away, face solemn.

"I'm sorry, but… it's too soon…"

That said, she half-ran half-limped out of the room, passing by Drayea without even a backwards glance. The redhead stared after her, her gaze parallel with a hurt look from the other blader.

**

* * *

**

Downstairs, Taylia was about to get up when Mitsu came down the stairs and briskly limped to the door. Her face was shadowed by her bangs; Taylia scowled when she saw the bruises and blood on her face, promising a very painful and _violent_ revenge on whoever was the responsible party.

"I'll be in the car." She said flatly as she exited through the front door.

Drayea trudged downstairs a moment later and took her former place leaned against the wall, her expression betraying nothing, nor saying anything and awaiting the command from her team captain.

Taylia in turn groggily stood up; her fever was starting to get worse, and it was dulling her senses. A thought suddenly formed in her head.

"Might I ask where Tala and Kai are?" She inquired.

This time, it was Ian who spoke up.

"Phoenix is off in his own little world of training, and Red went and got himself sick with a fever. Poor bastard's been running a temperature of 101 the past day or two and won't let anyone help… not that any of us has any experience with disease to begin with."

Drayea's otherwise stoic expression became thoughtful.

"Yo, Tai, you and the others go ahead. I'll stay here and take care of Tala. I'll take the bus back or something." She said in a stern tone.

Said brunette looked up in slight surprise, but offered only a nod of approval.

"Call if you need anything. I'll have Vlad stop by later with anything you might need; don't worry, I'll pack it for you."

Drayea in turn nodded as a 'thank you' and didn't move as her teammates made to leave.

**

* * *

**

Watching as Riikka was heading for the door, something sparked in Bryan's head.

"Hold up a second."

The Finnish blader turned around as Bryan reached into his pocket and held out a small silver locket with a slightly rusted lock.

"Niina had this on her when Tala brought her in. She left it here." He said flatly as she took it out of his hand.

Riikka looked down at it and smiled before taking a step closer and kissed him on the cheek while standing on her tip-toes.

"I'll let her know you found it." She said with a mind-melting smile.

The blonde girl turned around and jogged to catch up with her departing teammates, shouting at Taylia to "stay the hell away from the wheel if she didn't want to be charged with homicide".

Bryan just stared after her, one hand unconsciously going to the cheek where she'd kissed him.

_Damn it._

Now it was official; he was stuck on her.

**

* * *

**

"Progress report?"

"She's asleep, but whatever is causing her to act like she is hasn't worn off at all."

Nadriya's normally icy face cracked into a frown directed at the floor. She let her weight lean more heavily against the stone wall behind her and making her posture cause her to look tired.

Solongo, who as usual was silent, glanced in the direction of Lilja's cell. The younger dragon had finally raged herself into an exhausted slumber, and she was about 32 hours into her observation session. The Soviet Knights had been taking turns standing watch while the others slept restlessly; without Lilja, they really couldn't train since there were no other bladers of their level at the Hermitage.

Nadriya was deep in thought; Taylia's words were replaying in her head uncontrollably, almost to a point where each repeat overlapped the next one.

_"That bastard Alekzander **mutated** Ukaleq. Just like he did to Arseni."_

Just like Arseni? Nadriya had only ever seen Taylia's phoenix when it was in his fire formed, never as a solid being. It didn't ever appear that there was anything wrong with the phoenix, save for Taylia's extremely odd eye color.

_Hmmm…_

Getting an idea, Nadriya got up and walked briskly down the hall, the gears and wheels in her head whirring.

**

* * *

**

Except for the smooth humming of the engine, it was quiet in the car with the three of the Four Winds, Mitsu especially who seemed to be willing herself to disappear in the blanket she was holding tightly around her. Taylia was sitting in the back seat next to her while Riikka drove.

The Russian girl looked over to her gloomy teammate, who had her knees pulled up to her chest, and she knew that the blanket was to try and rid herself of the feeling of exposure. That bastard of an ex-boyfriend Yuukan Takashi had apparently been up to more than physical assault, and his efforts had torn her clothing up quite a bit.

Riikka looked back at her teammates through the rear view mirror.

"Hey, _Vostoshniy_," She said quietly, "if it's any consolation, I'm proud of you for standing up to him."

Mitsu managed a weak but forced smile before a new wave of tears started to slip from her eyes. Taylia, already sensing that she was getting upset, hugged her younger teammate and let her cry on her shoulder.

_How I know that feeling._

Riikka turned back to the road and thought about the silver locket in her coat pocket, but instead, an image of Bryan appeared in her mind.

**

* * *

**

"You _what?!_"

Ian backed away slowly with a pathetically faked innocent grin, secretly planning to bolt should the need arise.

… which was extremely likely.

Drayea sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to refrain from lunging in a karate kick; this wasn't her house, thus she could not maim its residents.

However…

Ian was _really_ pushing it.

"Moron; you don't try to give a sick person caffeine, that'll only make them irritable."

Brushing her hair out of her face, her expression suddenly went from exasperated to serious.

"Alright, Shrimp. You wanna help? Get me a few washcloths and a bowl of cold water."

"Aye, cap'n."

Ian missed the middle finger shot at his back at the sarcastic remark. The owner of said finger just growled under her breath and walked back upstairs. One of the first things they learned in their training at the Hermitage was how to handle diseases and injuries; why didn't they do the same at the Abbey?

Morons.

She'd only been over for about an hour, and already she'd had to restock their medicine cabinet; actually, it really couldn't be called that since absolutely nothing was in there.

_Those guys are damn lucky I specialized in the medical parts of training._

She dimmed the lights via the light switch at the top of the steps; if there was anything she hated, it was when she was roused from sleeping or illness by a sudden burst of light. All that did was piss her off, and it usually led to an all-day bitch fit where she had the tendency to hiss in an animalistic fashion at whoever was the responsible party.

The first door on the right was Tala's room; it was pretty obvious by the sign on the door that said 'STEP FORTH AND PARISH'.

Definitely Ian's doing.

"Tala? You awake?"

When she got no reply, she slowly opened the door. A moment later, she got her response; a coughing fit followed by a violent sneeze.

Yep. That was Tala.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Armed with a thermometer and a bottle of medicine, she slipped inside and wasn't surprised to find a very grouchy-looking wolf with his back turned, buried under several blankets and sheets. If it weren't for the sickness dulling his senses, she didn't doubt that by now he would have detected her presence.

Drayea made next to no sound as she came to his bedside and put down the thermometer and bottle before kneeling down next to the bed.

"Tala, wake up."

She received an annoyed groan as a response. Drayea rolled her eyes, but the order was merited with at least getting him to roll onto his back.

"Seen better days, huh?" She kidded weakly.

Tala just glared at her; his otherwise pale face was flushed and there were a few lingering beads of sweat on the side of his face. Drayea placed a soothingly cool hand to his forehead, almost pulling right away when she felt how hot his skin was.

"Damn it… where is Ian with that water?"

Almost as if on cue, said shrimp came through the door balancing a bowl of water in one hand and several cloths in the other.

"Thanks. I'll call you up if I need anything else."

Turning back to Tala, she took her hand away to get the thermometer only to have another hand clamp down on her wrist and get a threatening, wolf-like growl as if daring her to struggle.

"Uh, I guess I forgot to mention that Red goes a little berserk when he's sick."

Drayea cast him an acidic sarcastic look.

"Really? Do tell."

Ian quickly high-tailed it out of the room before the griffin had the chance to spring; although, it probably wasn't necessary. Tala had a vice-like death grip on her wrist, and she wasn't going anywhere. Sick or not, the Blitzkrieg Boys' captain was a hell of a lot stronger than he let on.

"_Don't_."

Drayea turned back to Tala, surprised at the suddenly ice-cold tone. He was now sitting up with a dark, hazy glare directed at her, drawing a challenging glower back from her.

_Damn my competitive nature._

"Tala, what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

**I don't think that's really his doing; my guess is that Wolborg is reacting to an old memory and is protecting his master.**

She stared harder into his eyes; Gundula was right. The blue eyes she knew were nowhere near as empty as this.

"Wolborg, if that's you hearing me, you can relax. I'm not going to hurt him."

**_And how do I know I can trust you?_**

_In case you failed to notice, when you drive off everyone who tries to help, you're not helping Tala get any better. That, and you're fucking crushing my wrist; you literally have the upper hand in this situation._

She narrowed her eyes at the wolf.

_Even though you're in control, that doesn't mean it's not taking a lot out of your master._

* * *

For whatever the reason, Wolborg had suddenly decided to let down his guard; next thing Tala knew, he'd fallen right into the arms of the Four Winds' griffin. 

"Shit… they weren't kidding."

She could practically _hear_ the smirk on his face.

"So you're the one who told Wolborg off… I should've guessed."

"Well, it wasn't just him. I'll give you this much; you've got one hell of a grip."

Tala looked up at her with a questioning look until she pulled up the sleeve of the arm that Wolborg had grabbed; there were 5 slowly-forming fingerprint bruises forming, and it looked like it hurt.

"Sorry…"

Drayea gave no reply and helped him to sit upright; if it weren't for the sick flush on his face, she could've caught the slight tinge of red from embarrassment. It became much more apparent when both bladers were struck by the realization of their situation.

_Damn hormones._

Drayea said nothing and went right back to work. Of course, that meant sticking the thermometer in his mouth.

"Don't even think about spitting it out."

**Heh. Caught.**

_Shut up._

"Wonder of wonders; Ian was actually right. 101 degrees."

Tala groaned in response; he didn't do well with heat. Why else would he get an ice-element bit beast?

He could only watch with mindless fascination as she took her gloves off and rung out one of the white rags that had been sitting in the bowl of water on the nightstand. Taylia had been right; she had the hands of a pianist.

"You lie down and keep this on your forehead. I'll be right back."

Absent-mindedly, he complied; Drayea got up and walked out of the room, leaving her gloves on the nightstand.

_Remind me again why you can't stand Gundula?_

**…You aren't serious. Don't tell me you're falling for that girl.**

_You're the one who was giving me advice earlier; what happened to that?_

**I didn't honestly think you'd make up your mind so quickly.**

_I'm going to have so much fun tormenting you._

* * *

"Damn it… this guy is **beyond** whacked."

Taylia ran a hand through her hair, exasperated. She was reviewing the Soviet Knights' profiles, and the things she was seeing made her sorely tempted to march straight back to the Hermitage and blast it to kingdom come, courtesy of her bit beasts.

According to their profiles, this is what the other girls' stats looked like.

**NADRIYA RZHYOV**

**Strength:** x5

**Agility:** x14

**Endurance:** x20

**Pain Tolerance:** x35

**Speed:** x6

**Flexibility:** x31

**IQ:** 214

**SOLONGO CHOYBALSAN**

**Strength:** x0

**Agility:** x0

**Endurance:** x0

**Pain Tolerance:** x0

**Speed:** x0

**Flexibility:** x0

**IQ:** 188

(Not yet upgraded)

**LILJA APUTSIAQ**

**Strength:** x7

**Agility:** x19

**Endurance:** x13

**Pain Tolerance:** x50

**Speed:** x2

**Flexibility:** x9

**IQ:** Unknown

**NADINA**

**Strength:** x25

**Agility:** x30

**Endurance:** x35

**Pain Tolerance:** x50

**Speed:** x10

**Flexibility:** x20

**IQ:** 267

Apparently, Solongo was the only "normal" one left on their team, and both Nadriya and Nadina had been driven up far beyond human levels. What worried her the most was when they would have to face them in the tournament; she knew that it was a BIOVOLT signature to use dirty tactics, and she hated to think what would happen if they used actual physical attacks. Unless she and Drayea upgraded themselves, they were dead, and there was no way in the nine sodding gates of hell she would sink to that bastard Nelyubova's level.

No. Fucking. Way.

She literally slapped herself to dispel the uncharacteristic and _sick_ dark thought, leaving a red mark on her face as indication of her action. There was only one person she ever had and would hurt in the process of anything she sought was herself, and she intended to keep it that way.

Of course, now there was another person to think about; Anniina. The little girl was nowhere near as capable if at all to her teammates (especially Drayea) and was for the moment a deadweight. Sure, they could teach her to beyblade and develop combat skills, but she lacked the height and size of even a pre-teenager, much less the strength and agility (and then some) of a fully-matured (and well-trained) female adult like she and Drayea had.

_Sigh._

Sometimes being the team captain was such a drag; there were so many responsibilities she had to juggle.

It was like trying to swim while wearing handcuffs.

_I need an aspirin._

Yes, the mighty, invincible Taylia Rhaion Strelnikov was prone to headaches. May God be merciful to those who cross her migraine-ridden path.

Ah, well. At least she wasn't like _some_ people –cough-RIIKKA!-cough- who were caffeine fiends.

Oi…

That was never pretty. As if the Finn wasn't chatty enough when she got excited.

She shuddered at the thought.

_Okay, next matter of business._

Oh, right.

Mitsu.

She had gone to bed early that night; she was still upset about the day's events. Taylia scowled darkly, clenching her fist until her hand hurt. This Yuukan baka-shit-bastard should be writing his will right about now. Too bad he didn't know his ex was under the eye of an extremely vengeful and _violent_ phoenix.

Her features softened when she thought back to her teammates, plots for that bastard's brutal maiming stored back in her head, temporarily forgotten. With all these new threats surfacing, she was beginning to wonder if her more fragile teammates were still willing and loyal, considering that the stakes now were much higher.

Mitsu was really a very sweet girl, but she was _extremely_ hard to get close to, and she had a deep insecurity that was even worse than Drayea's. She didn't blame her though; to be abandoned by your team because they thought her too good for the likes of them had taken quite a toll on the Japanese-American's trust. That, and when her former (male) team captain started making inappropriate advances on her. The only reason she herself had managed to earn her respect and faith was by beybattling her with the old-fashioned way- that meant no bit beasts, special attacks or blade gears. Nothing but raw skill and talent.

Riikka was different. Mitsu had it alright growing up by means of family, but their youngest member (not including Niina) was emotionally wounded so deeply it hurt Taylia to think someone as innocent as her could be so disturbed.

Her mother was a drunkard, her younger sister Elli had been born with Down Syndrome, her father was a violent maniac who seriously physically and psychologically abused her… and the only sane and loving family member was her older sister Saara. Riikka's mother had been driving drunk with her and Saara in the car; at the time, Saara was 15 and Riikka was only 6. Mrs. Korpela had swung around a corner too fast and smashed into a freighter truck, flipping the car. Saara, who had been holding her little sister in her lap, had shielded her from impact with her own body, leaving her unharmed. Saara, however, had been fatally injured; her mother died on impact. She'd told Riikka to get help, but by the time she got back, there was nothing to be done. That wasn't the worst of it though.

The time that Taylia had protected Riikka from her father was the very same day he murdered Elli.

Taylia absent mindedly rolled up her sleeve to look at the specific scar on her arm from the incident. The insane old man had come at her with a fucking knife, and the only reason Riikka had survived was because she had blocked the would-be fatal blow; he'd driven a 14-inch carving knife through her arm.

_Two hundred and nine stitches._

That didn't include the four muscle repairs and two plastic surgeries needed to try and erase as much of the scar as possible. She drew the line at the suggestion of a third; as much as she abhorred bearing scars, they were battle wounds, remnants of the great feats she seemed to be known for.

Somehow, seeing that made her much more bound to her duty as a captain.

After all, that was why she was the North Wind.

* * *

"So, Strelnikov wasn't lying."

Nadriya folded her hands, resting her chin on top of them and her elbows propped up on her desk. The room was poorly illuminated by her laptop, which currently displayed snapshots of one of Taylia's very early-year battles. She couldn't have been any older than 8 or 9.

_How can one person be a vessel for so much power? And now that she's got Black Dranzer…_

She shook her head. This wasn't good; she was starting to question her loyalty to BIOVOLT, and as everyone knew, this was punishable by death if caught by anyone.

Turning her attention back to the pictures, she zoomed out. She was facing some girl with a kind of lion-wolf hybrid, a chimera. The slides were arranged in the sequence from when she first called on Arseni to when he had fully unfurled his wings… only two of them. She double-clicked on the last shot where Arseni was just letting out a war cry. The computer zoomed in on the small girl, whose face bore an expression of icy focus.

Same brown hair, same pale-olive skin, same facial features though less mature.

However…

Her eyes were blue.

_He **did** mutate them…_

She leaned back, trying to take it all in.

If that was the case… she feared the worst for Lilja.

* * *

**Yurii:** _HA! How did you like that, huh? I decided to be evil with a cliffhanger since you all left such SHORT reviews! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!_


	21. The Truth Hurts

**Four Winds**

**The Truth Hurts  
**

**

* * *

**

**Yurii:** _YAY!!! I got long reviews! (Does a little dance) _

**_I CHANGED THE FIC TITLE BECAUSE OF A TRANSLATING ERROR; SORRY!_**

_I was so happy to see you all still like Mitsu! WHEEEEE!!! –ahem- Anyways, just so you know, there will be TWO polls at the end of this chapter._

**

* * *

**

"Did it come?"

"_Yes,_ it came. Knock yourself out."

The smirk that formerly brought terror to the Blitzkrieg Boys had now become almost normal. Key word: almost. Now, instead of saying '_I'm up to something_' it now meant one thing.

Danica wrote back.

That was even worse.

Before any of the other Russians had the chance to even look in the direction of resident prankster, Ian had already bolted up to his room and locked the door.

A moment later, an ear-splitting 'BANG!' sounded, and then silence. Bryan glanced over at Spencer.

"She rigged the envelope with an explosion again?"

"Yep."

Smirk.

"You owe me 100 rubles."

* * *

**Yo-**

**Greetings to my loyal minion! I'm sure you have already gotten the 'fun' little surprise I sent in the envelope. I can just see the glare on your face. :D**

Sure enough, Ian was glowering at the paper…. With Silly Putty covering his face.

She was _good_.

Very good.

**Let's see, where do I begin…**

**Life is boring as usual. I still have to go to school, and I still inflict great fear into the hearts of my teachers and classmates. (: Wahahaha! –ahem- Anywho, you'll be amused to know that I somehow, by some cruel fate, was put in Dance. **

**BBAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFF. **

**Those snotty bitches and their 'interpretive dance' look like a bunch of pissed-drunk storks with two sprained ankles. Of course, they all started throwing bitch fits when I 'interpreted' it. **

**Che. **

**Drama queens. **

**As for the rest of my classes; History (yawn), PE (whatever), Chemistry (MUAHAHAHAHA!) and Algebra 2 (bleh). They have a uniform here, which blows bloody ass. If one more loser pervert guy tries to look up my skirt again, I'm going to filch a pair of that Russian chick's steel-toed boots. **(A/N: -cough-Taylia-cough-)

**Before you become insane and enraged with jealousy, here's a side note; I wear shorts under those skimpy scraps of cloth they call skirts.**

**I also wear combats to school. :D **

**UGH! If I hear ONE MORE GIRL ask me to try and hook them up with any of my teammates, I am going to KILL THEM!! I'll try to resist… **

**But if I can't, I'll send you a tape. (: **

**So many evil thoughts in my head… Heh-heh. **

**See ya when I get out of this hellhole! Surprise me with your next letter, you're getting predictable! **

**Your lord and master, **

**Danica Z. Arsenyev **

**P.S- Look on the other side. **

Curious, Ian turned over the paper and laughed out loud at the picture taped to the back.

**P.P.S- I pierced my tongue.**** :P **

* * *

"Need anything else?" 

"Just for you to kill Ian."

"Danica wrote back?"

"Afraid so. The world fears, and apparently so do you."

Drayea rolled her eyes in fake annoyance to conceal an embarrassed blush. They both knew that BIOVOLT bladers, though trained to be independent, were prone to becoming protective of their comrades. In this case, when the bang had gone off, Drayea had shielded Tala with her own body thinking some part of the building would collapse.

If any of her teammates found out about it, she'd never hear the end of it.

Shit.

"Humph."

He smirked; she was even more fun to tease than Ian, probably because she was much easier to get riled up or embarrassed.

_Smirk._

"Not. A. Word."

Tala's smirk only became wider and more wolfish, and he folded his arms over his chest looking very smug. She shot him a dark look.

"Bastard."

"For you, always."

Drayea raised one eyebrow.

"If I didn't know any better, Ivanov, I would swear you were flirting with me."

"And if I didn't know better, I'd say you're enjoying it thoroughly, Rothstein." He retorted smoothly.

Well, Taylia was right about one thing; he was definitely charming.

Ignoring the embarrassment of having no snide comeback, she only left the room momentarily to retrieve her duffel. Vlad had dropped by not long ago with a bag containing a change of clothes, pajamas and any other "essentials", courtesy of Taylia.

* * *

While Drayea was gone, Tala sat up in bed to glare at his beyblade on the bedside table. The _entire time_ that Drayea had been taking care of him, that idiot Wolborg had been mercilessly teasing him about her. 

_For just FIVE MINUTES would you just **shut up??**_

**And what fun would that be? I never get to do this, and you can't stop me!**

_We'll see about that._

**Wait, what are you-?**

Wolborg was cut off when Tala shoved his beyblade into the drawer and locked it shut.

…

Wonderful, glorious silence.

* * *

**  
Mistress, I sense a presence… someone who should not be here.**

_Are you sure?_

**Positive. I'm never wrong about these things.**

Drayea went very still, duffel bag in one hand and her loaded launcher in the other. Call it a doctor's intuition; she had the sudden urge to protect her "patient".

_Tala…_

Hefting the bag onto her shoulder, she moved noiselessly over the floor back up the stairs; even Taylia wouldn't have been able to sense her.

_Damnit… this is bad…_

* * *

"**Jupiter Photon Cleaver**!!!!" 

The silence of an otherwise peaceful night was shattered for maybe the fiftieth time that night with another violent, ear-wracking explosion that blasted out still more trees. Snow flew up into the air with the debris of decimated evergreens, and down below at the forest floor was an exhausted blader.

Mitsu was on her hands and knees, staring hard at the ground and paying no mind to her hair, which had fallen out during her grueling training and was either hanging loosely in her face or was plastered to it by sweat.

"Raiuma… I don't think… I have enough strength left… to try it again…" She panted.

**I understand…**

"You really shouldn't be venting this way. You'll kill yourself."

The Japanese blader looked to her side past her shoulder to see Taylia standing in the entrance of the clearing, leaning against the trunk of a tree that had gotten the top half smashed off. The Russian blader had a look of concern on her face, and it was clear by her eyes that she was worried about her well-being.

"Can you get up?"

Mitsu gave no answer and staggered to her feet only for her knees to give. Taylia easily moved forward, caught her by the arm and slung it over her shoulders to prop her taller teammate up.

"Behold, the real reason my teammates abandoned me; apparently, my way of venting put them in danger of being surpassed."

Taylia smirked; Mitsu was quoting her again. The Japanese blader didn't put up any protest as her captain hauled her onto her back and started back towards the manor. The way she hefted her up so easily got the mare's attention.

"Since when are you so strong?"

"Dunno."

_That answer came way too fast to be honest._

She was skeptical, but kept her mouth shut.

* * *

"Drayea? Why the hell do you have your launcher out?" 

The German blader paid no mind to Tala and glanced out the window again. The dark figure that was moving around outside seemed to be trying to find something… or someone… inside.

"We have unwanted company." She growled under her breath.

She did a double-take when she realized Tala was up and about.

"Damnit, get back to bed. You're only going to stay sick if you don't rest."

Tala raised an eyebrow and folded his arms looking almost amused at the change in her moods. One minute she was acting like it was something scene out of a James Bond movie, the next she was reprimanding him like she was his mother.

"Just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can't do anything. This is my house after all."

The look on her face would have been comical if not for the situation.

"Fine. But if I tell you to leave, do so, and don't ask why."

"Fair enough."

"Got your launcher?"

"Yep."

"Let's go."

* * *

"For the last goddamn time; no, nyet, nein, nunca, ix-nay, iie, ei, neitun, nak!" 

"Aw, c'mon Dani-"

"And only friends of mine can call me Dani!"

"But-!"

"BEGONE, DEMON!!"

Spangler flinched at the loud tone of the small Slavic girl, who now had the chopsticks that had been in her hair now held at arms' length in front of her in the shape of a cross to ward him off. There were several onlookers, but most of the students by now were accustomed to such behavior.

Everyone knew that anyone who asked Danica out was either a) suicidal or b) outright stupid. Not only was she scary when angered, but she had a hot temper at the end of her long, usually (seemingly) endless fuse.

That, and what with the rumors flying around that her so-called "boyfriend" was a member of the well-regarded and equally feared Blitzkrieg Boys, most of them, even the morons, knew better.

Spangler was just _asking_ for someone to kill him; Danica _or_ her boyfriend.

Of course, the fact that she was on the same team as the Majestics _and_ was a world-class blader only seemed to increase the already unwanted attention she received, and she **was not** afraid to unleash her bit beast on any "perverted fucktard who tried something funny". (Quote by Johnny)

She'd already done it 16 times, and they weren't even through the first semester yet.

"But why not?" He whined.

Danica's eyebrow twitched involuntarily. Bystanders started to inch away, afraid of knowing what was coming.

"_Because_, you cocky womanizer bastard, for these following reasons. 1) You're a perv, 2) you're liable to cheat within the next period, 3) you're a disgustingly shameless flirt and festering annoyance 4) you stand no chance with me and 5) I'M NOT INTERESTED. Get lost!"

Spangler slowly backed off, hands up in the universal sign of peace, but it was to his misfortune that she'd planned it out already and backed him into a garbage can. Said dragon folded her arms and smirked, looking very much like her dragon bit beast as she did so.

"Like I said, you stand no chance with me."

* * *

"Any ideas who it might be out there?" 

"If I had to guess… Lilja Aputsiaq. The Greenlandic blader."

"You mean the one with the black dragon?"

"Ukaleq; and yes, I mean her. From what Taylia told me, that bastard Nelyubova did something to her bit beast; some kind of mutation."

Tala was silent and glanced over at Drayea, who was flattened against the other side of the window they were watching. It seemed almost unreal that the one thing that haunted him might be back.

"You mean… he cyberized Ukaleq?"

Drayea's face suddenly fell as she turned to look at him. Her expression was grim, so the news was anything but good.

"_Worse_. Much,_ much_ worse. Cyberization is like the result of something out of a child's chemistry set compared to what they do to bit beasts down there."

By now, he was almost afraid to ask, but dared anyway.

"What exactly do they do to them?"

Drayea sighed, tightening her grip on her launcher. She warily glanced out the window one more time into the snow, then turned back to him.

"They use several different mixtures of chemical compounds and solutions to force the bit beast's statistics to a critical level so when they're off the chemical, their battle performance will improve. However, those chemicals always leave behind some kind of hideous physical mutation. Arseni's second pair of wings are a _very_ minor example of one such mutation; Taylia came away _extremely_ lucky."

Tala was silent, registering what she'd just said. BIOVOLT was anything but gone, even after Voltaire and Boris had been put to death. By the sound of it, this Nelyubova person was even worse than both of them.

"And what of your bit beast? Did they mutate Gundula?"

She sighed again, but this time, her face became icy and furious.

"Yes. They did."

She took her blade out of her launcher and held it up. The griffin remained still with its beak open in a silent war cry.

"She looks alright…"

"Gundula wasn't born a griffin spirit. She used to be an eagle called Arabelle. Alekzander force-fused her with a lion bit beast Lionel, and it created a griffin."

Outside, a short 'BANG' was followed by a resounding crash that reminded Drayea of someone breaking down a door.

_Shit! She's breaking in!_

Re-loading Gundula HMS Z-Scythe into her launcher, she was about ready to follow the direction of the sound when a short sizzling from the lights was followed by total darkness. Lilja had killed the power, probably by the fuse box in the basement.

Drayea _froze._

Her phobia had kicked in almost the same instant the lights went out, and every bad experience she'd ever had in solitary confinement was flooding back into her head.

**Mistress, calm down!**

Panic had already started to set in, and her launcher and beyblade clattered to the ground when she dropped them and leaned back against the cabin wall hugging herself, eyes wide in fear and remembrance of past nightmares come alive.

_Not again… please not again, I don't want it…_

"Drayea?"

She snapped her head to the right where a male voice had spoken. By now, her fear had taken her out of her previous place and into her own world.

"Don't come any closer!" She hissed, sliding down the wall to a sitting position in an attempt to flatten herself against it and become invisible- a second nature hardwired into her from experience.

"Drayea, are you alright?"

Somewhere in the dark, the owner of the voice stepped closer.

"I said leave me alone!" She snarled, becoming frenzied in her fear.

Before she could lash out at whoever was speaking, she was quickly enveloped by two strong arms and pulled against a warm body in an almost protective gesture. One hand stroked her bangs, attempting to quiet her panicky shouting.

"Shh… calm down, Drayea. I'm not going to hurt you."

Her wide eyes softened and returned to their normal size; something about him was… different. It was probably because it the first time any male had touched her without causing her some kind of severe pain, be it mental, emotional or physical.

* * *

_  
Lilja must have been trying to cut out the power to put her in a vulnerable state… unless she was trying to get Gundula to act up so she could find her._

Whatever the reason, all Tala knew was that he had to keep the younger blader calm if they wanted to ward Lilja off. The very fact that this Alekzander bastard had made her so deathly terrified of the dark pissed him off, and he was very tempted to just set Wolborg on Lilja as a little payback for scaring his griffin.

Wait.

Where did that come from?

_Must be a 'spur-of-the-moment' thing…_

Fortunately, that particular 'spurred' moment had already passed as he realized that Lilja was gone, probably from frustration or lack of patience. He could tell from their little "debut" that this Aputsiaq girl was the hotheaded, impatient one.

Still nestled against him, he felt Drayea jump when something that sounded like footsteps started to come closer. Turning slightly so he was positioned more in front of her, Tala tensed to attack if need be.

"What the hell are you two doing up?"

_Whew._

It was just Ian.

"Nothing. Drayea was downstairs when the power went out and I unintentionally knocked her over." He replied calmly, silently praying and hoping he'd buy it.

"Whatever, Red. Now if you don't mind, _some_ of us would like to sleep." Came the sleepy and annoyed reply.

His footsteps trudged back upstairs and was followed by a door closing. Tala released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Without giving it a second thought, he lifted Drayea up into his arms just like he'd done with Taylia when he'd found her with Kai; she in turn clung to his shirt almost out of reflex.

**Just like a child does when it's frightened.** Wolborg thought, sounding almost… sad.

* * *

Inside her head, Gundula's rationality was going on a bipolar spasm that was running amok with the rest of her jumbled-up and turmoil-ridden thoughts. The griffin would start screeching in an infuriated manner about something in an ancient language, go silent, and then start shriek-ranting again. Drayea, however remained silent as Tala carried her up the stairs. 

What had her most confused was his response to her panic; the only reaction she'd ever received was cruel mockery and laughter. Instead, he now had her cradled protectively in his arms like the it was now his responsibility to defend her. Confused and tired, she let her head rest on his shoulder and hid her face in the crook of his neck.

* * *

Feeling the younger blader sigh, Tala held her a little closer, almost as if he was trying to remind her that he was still there. 

He nudged his bedroom door open with his foot and effortlessly closed it behind him again before gently depositing Drayea on his bed. It was rather ironic; she'd stayed behind to take care of him, but now he was the one taking care of her.

Drayea remained still, now just sitting there quietly with her knees pulled up to her chest and staring blankly at the wall. Her boots and gloves had been discarded since before the blackout, so she was sitting there in her sweater, pants and socks. Her expression was solemn and thoughtful, something he'd never seen her appear to be.

He felt her startle when he sat down next to her; his enhanced eyesight picked up the brightness in her eyes betraying a new wave of panic.

"Easy… I already told you, I won't hurt you." He said quietly, hoping it would calm her down.

There was a short, introspective pause.

"Why?"

Tala looked back up at her, almost surprised she'd spoken.

"What do you mean?"

Drayea, who was staring at her knees, looked up wearing an expression so hopeless and sad it gave the odd sensation like someone had just stabbed him in the chest.

"Why are you not like the others? What makes you different?" She asked, sounding like a timid child asking an elder an embarrassing question.

Tala was silent, thinking.

"I don't know… maybe it's because I understand what it's like to be in your position."

Again, silence. This time, it was a silence of the thoughtful kind. Lo and behold, in return for his reply, he received a smile.

Somehow, it seemed like a fog had lifted.

* * *

"Cyber Dranzer, hold on a little longer!!" 

The aura of the cyber phoenix shrieked in compliance, managing to stagger back to its feet and keep up the assault on the wall of stone in front of it and its partner. Taylia had her arms crossed in front of her to shield her face from the streaming wind and fragments of ice and stone shooting past as the mecha phoenix continued to drill through it. At the rate they were going at, it would only be a minute or two more before...

Her mental calculations were interrupted when the towering form of Cyber Dranzer's aura disappeared and her blade clattered to a halt in the snow and dirt, threads of smoke rising up off of the scorching hot metal. She herself fell to her knees, sweating and panting heavily. Eight days straight of grueling training was putting a hell of a lot of stress on her both physically and mentally. When Drayea had gotten back from staying back with the Blitzkrieg Boys to see her team captain had been training the entire time, she was _pissed_ to say the least.

"_You crazy stupid bitch! If you want to kill yourself before the tournament, go right ahead!_"

As harsh as it sounded, insulting people's dangerous routines and habits was her way of showing she was concerned for their well-being. Nadriya was the same way.

Taylia's eyes narrowed at the thought of her so-called rival. She knew that Rzhyov was ruthless and rumored to get off on blood and pain. However, the Nadriya V. Rzhyov she saw when Lilja was first going through the side effects of mutations was almost like her when one of her own was in trouble. However, the thing on her mind that was troubling her wasn't the upcoming preliminaries, Nadriya, or Alekzander Nelyubova.

It was Nadina.

Something about the way she lost her cool when she'd taken a sample of Lilja's blood was all too familiar, and it puzzled her to no end.

The other thing was the very disturbing information she gathered from studying the mutated red and white blood cells in the sample. The Greenlandic Soviet Knight was slowly taking on the physique of her bit beast, and it was reducing her from the mind as well. Judging by the way the red and white blood cells eventually attacked one another, it was probably only a matter of time before she could die.

It was disturbing and upsetting to say the least.

Just the thought of it made her stomach lurch, but there was nothing in it to come up. She'd skipped breakfast again.

"You know, you're going to die if you keep doing this to yourself."

Taylia looked wearily over her shoulder at Drayea, who was standing behind her, arms folded and wearing a scornful but concerned expression.

_Heh... that's probably how I looked to Mitsu_. She thought, faking an internal smile.

Drayea's eyes narrowed as her team captain forced herself wearily to her feet, her shoulders heaving with the effort needed to breathe. She somehow managed to bend down and pick up her blade before turning back to her teammate. Drayea's eyes widened almost as if in horror when she saw her from the front.

A large abrasion on her forehead was caked with dirt and dried blood, same as a small cut on her cheek. A small trickle of fresh blood dripped down from one corner of her mouth, but that was barely the tip of the iceberg. The old scars on her arms, back and legs had opened up slightly and were now bleeding and joined by innumerable other wounds, some bloody and others just dirty. Her clothing was torn where shards of ice or stone had sliced them open, and her beyblade was thrashed beyond any hopes of repair. Taylia's normally confident and soldier-like posture was now that of a weakened, hunched-over and defeated one. Still, a smirk adorned her face.

Drayea quickly shook it off, expression becoming enraged as she stormed up to her team captain and reared back her fist to bring it back again all the way around abd slug her in her face. The force of it knocked Taylia back down to the ground on her back; if she had been at her peak, the blow wouldn't have even phased her. She was worse off than Drayea had thought.

Looking (almost) surprised, Taylia propped herself up on her elbows, a new bruise forming on the cheek that wasn't bleeding.

"What-?"

"That's for having us all worried sick, you selfish bitch! Have you ever stopped to think what happens to us when you do these things to yourself?? I know you definitely don't think of what happens to _you_ when you do it!" Drayea shouted, sounding absolutely furious.

Taylia was quiet, her expression stern and serious. She looked up again to see that her older teammate had an outstretched hand to her. She took it, letting Drayea haul her to her feet.

"C'mon, let's go back."

Taylia just gave a weak smile in turn and followed her in the direction of the house.

_Nnn... Arseni, what's happening..._

She didn't get a response when the world around her started to spin and grow hazy before her legs gave and she hit the ground, knees first and then fell into the dirt, her blade falling from her hand.

"TAYLIA!!"

* * *

"She's exhausted and slightly malnourished, and by the look of it she's lost a fair amount of blood. Why she was crazy enough to take her training this far I have no idea." 

The other Four Winds were quiet, all of them nervous and slightly relieved to hear she was in no serious danger. When Drayea had burst in through the front door with Taylia unconscious and injured in her arms, the first thing that came to mind was that she'd been attacked.

The doctor removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt before continuing.

"However, the physical stress on her body wasn't caused by training. Come with me."

The three girls followed, Drayea the closest and walking with brisk steps; she was the most concerned of all. After all, their team captain was the closest thing to family she had. The group came up to a curtained-off area and stepped in, where the Russian was hooked up to several IVs, an oxygen mask and a machine that displayed all of her vital signs.

"Take a look at her statistics."

He handed Drayea a clipboard with a number of charts on it. She scanned each one with her eyes, flipped to the next, and kept going, looking more and more frantic with each one.

"Something is very wrong with her vital signs and physical stability. She'll definitely live, but I've never seen anyone with such irregular results."

The doctor walked away, leaving the three to their friend. Mitsu and Riikka looked to their eldest teammate in question. Drayea's fist tightened until the clipboard in her hand made a slight crunching noise, indicating she'd snapped it in two.

"Drayea?" Riikka prodded cautiously.

"She did..."

Mitsu placed one hand on the German girl's shoulder, squeezing it in an attempt to get an answer.

"Drayea, what did she do?" She asked sternly.

The redhead let her gaze fall, shadowing her eyes.

"She upgraded to get stronger. Her statistics are way off the chart."

The other two were quiet, registering what she'd said.

"You mean..."

"She re-mutated herself."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN!!! CLIFFIE!!!! XD**

* * *

**  
Yurii:** _I'm so sorry for the Mary-Sue-ness with Tala and Drayea! I couldn't think of anything else!! T-T _

_Anyway… Don't forget to leave a review with your votes!_

**POLL 1:**

**Should I pair up one of the Soviet Knights with another character? **

**HELLS YEAH!! (Be aware; it'll only be a minor couple)**

**NO FUCKING WAY!!**

**----- **

**POLL 2:**

**If YES, who should be paired with who? **

**Nadriya/ (Character) **

**Lilja/ (Character) **

**Solongo/ (Character) **

**Nadina/ (Character) **


	22. Until We Meet Again

**Four Winds**

**Until We Meet Again**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Yay! I got lots of reviews! Thanks for your patience, guys!_

_Oh, and someone left me an interesting message about the couples. The results are at the bottom._

_THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF **CHETIRYE VYETER!!!** The sequel _**Pyeremena Vyeter** **(Changing Winds)**_, which will be the tournament, will come out as soon as I can make the first chapter!! _

* * *

"Talk, damnit!" 

The curse was followed by yet another resounding '**SLAP!**' and pacing footsteps clomping from one side of a wood floor to the other.

Mitsu and Riikka just looked on in a mix of disbelief, uncertainty and bewilderment. Drayea halted in her tracks to whirl around and face Taylia again, who was leaning against the wall with her arms folded, her expression completely void of emotion, and she was sporting the remnants of her injuries as well as a red handprint on each cheek. It was lucky that one of the maids had taken Anniina out shopping for some new clothes, or it would have been much worse than it already was.

The German girl shot a furious glare at her captain. Two weeks at the hospital, and the only resort left to figure out why or what Taylia did to herself was interrogation, and the Russian remained totally silent.

"Goddammit Taylia!"

Drayea stormed up to her captain and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her up to eye level.

"If you don't talk, I'll-!"

"You'll _what_?" She growled back.

Now she was challenging her, something so out of character for her it was almost frightening.

Drayea narrowed her eyes at the Russian before shoving her back against the wall. They'd sparred innumerable times and had exchanged still more blows, but never once had either of them wanted or tried to intentionally injure the other even though they were both easily capable. Drayea's reason –aside from never having a reason to strike her before- was that she just didn't have the heart to do it.

As the redheaded girl was about to leave, she was halted in her tracks.

"I had to do it."

She turned around slowly; Taylia had looked up, eyes dull like embers but ready and waiting to flare up.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, 'you had to do it'??" She demanded, slightly calmer than before.

"What other meaning does it have??" The Russian shot back, "I had to do it!"

"And what brought up the need?? I know you didn't get yourself halfway killed for no reason, so spill!"

Taylia sighed and raised her gaze so she was looking at all three of her teammates. Her expression was grim, and the younger two mentally braced themselves for bad news.

"The Soviet Knights are working under Alekzander, and all but one of them has been pumped up far beyond normal human levels. Nadina, the hooded blader you saw back in Switzerland, is strong enough to bench-press an eighteen-wheel freighter truck."

At that point, the other Four Winds had gone silent.

"Lilja Aputsiaq was the blader with the bit beast called Ukaleq, who was just recently mutated and has left behind some grotesque side-effects. She'll probably die shortly after the tournament. If we were to go up against any of those two or Nadriya, we'd be royally screwed. I did it because I had to."

There was a long, awkward pause; Mitsu and Riikka looked to Drayea to see how she'd react at the rather shocking and disturbing news.

She stood there a moment, then turned around and left the room without even a word. Riikka got up as if to go after her, but Taylia stopped her.

"Don't. She needs to think this through, and I don't blame her." She turned to her two subordinates. "There's one thing I have to know, and I won't judge you on your answer. Are you still willing to blade? When you signed onto the Four Winds, I didn't think that BIOVOLT was going to take part in it, and there's a very high chance of someone getting badly hurt."

Much to the surprise of the Russian phoenix, both bladers smirked confidently.

"C'mon, Tai. This is the World Championships, we already knew that. All this means is that we're going to have to train harder for the next few months." Riikka started.

"She's right. Besides," Mitsu added, "teams aren't supposed to break up until _after_ tournaments." She kidded.

Just hearing that they were still willing brought one of those rare smiles to her face. The Soviet Knights were going to be in for some tough competition this year.

* * *

Except for the ever-familiar whirring of beyblade gears, it was silent in the snow as a midnight blue and bronze Z-Strata blade darted in every direction, always shooting off in another direction mere millimeters before it hit something. 

Frozen turquoise eyes followed it, their owner frowning and expression betraying that she was deep in thought.

What had Drayea puzzled was not only how Taylia found all this out about the Soviet Knights, but also how she had somehow managed to boost up her own stats. There were only two ways to do it; chemical compounds, and cyber programming. The latter was the most likely one; even if Taylia was the heiress of a huge company with access to a lot of materials and people, she doubted even she would be crazy enough to do that.

Drayea sighed and shook her head.

_This is crazy._

It seemed like everything and everyone was going crazy in the time it had taken to get that much closer to the Preliminaries and World Championships. The Soviet Knights, the return of Alekzander, and the thoughts in her mind that made her head spin.

_Tala…_

She blushed slightly at the thought of the redheaded Russian captain. Strange, how with all the chaos going on, he seemed to be the biggest of her problems.

_Mind out of the gutter, Rothstein. You just got news that some of the bladers from your old "home" are out for blood and very capable of getting it, and you're sitting here blushing over some **boy**._

Well, even so… she had good reason. He _was_ a rather handsome young man, and the fact that he now wore his hair down wasn't really helping her situation. No wonder he had so many stalker fan girls.

She smirked at the thought of Tala being chased down by a horde of shrieking fan girls, most of them bearing rope and all donning 'I LUV TALA' shirts, headbands and banners. It sort of resembled something out of an old Roadrunner cartoon where the coyote was trying to catch the roadrunner.

Drayea shook her head, banishing the visual from her head. Turning back to her beyblade, she stared hard at the bit chip.

_Gundula, any words of wisdom?_

The griffin sighed.

**I'm sorry, mistress. Not this time.**

Drayea's face fell before a bolt of rage surged through her. Her blade's reaction to it kicked up a sub-zero tempest that brought up snow in a column around the German. She almost immediately sank to her knees, hands covering her ears as if to block out the outside world.

"No more!!"

* * *

"So, what are we going to do about Anniina?" 

Taylia was silent and rested her chin in her hand, drumming her fingers on the side of her face while pondering Riikka's question. They couldn't keep her with them at all times; the risk of Alekzander or one of the Soviet Knights getting to her was far too great for it to be an option.

"The only thing that comes to mind where we can keep her is that she stays here and lets the maids take care of her. The only other alternative would be to give her back to the Blitzkrieg Boys, and I doubt they'd know how to take care of a little girl."

Mitsu, who had only been watching, remained silent. Since Anniina couldn't blade, they all knew she would be deadweight and quite possibly a handicap since they couldn't always keep an eye on her.

"I have an idea, but I don't think you'll like it."

The other two turned to her; they needed all the ideas they could get.

"Since we're splitting up for the next five months, we could each take turns watching her for a month and one week each. She'll not only stay out of trouble, but it'll train her to beyblade in all kinds of different conditions and with different styles." She explained.

Taylia looked over at Riikka, almost as if silently asking her. Niina seemed to look up to her the most, so it was almost like they needed her approval to do anything.

"I don't think we have another choice."

Taylia closed her eyes and nodded.

"Alright. I'll be deporting for the Arctic Circle in the northern Greenland area, so I'll take her first since it would be the hardest place to get to rather than leave. From there, I'll be in Siberia."

Mitsu spoke up next.

"I'm going to train with my grandfather at the Black Lotus temple in Indonesia. She can come with me next."

"I think Drayea is going to be traveling all around Germany and Bulgaria, so we'll get her last. Riikka, where did you say you were going?"

"Back to my hometown. A former world champion was born native there, and he agreed to train me."

Taylia stood up, ready to go outside and give their eldest teammate the information.

"So it's decided, then. We'll trade off every five weeks; I get her first, then Mitsu, then Riikka and last, Drayea. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Alright. Ladies, start packing. We won't be back for five months."

* * *

"Miss Strelnikov, do you want me to pack up Miss Anniina's things?" 

"Yes, thank you Sonya. Be sure to pack warm, our first stop is the Arctic Circle, and she'll be in Germany and Bulgaria as well."

"Yes, miss."

Taylia turned back to her own duffle bag and grabbed her parka off the heap of clothing she had just finished folding that Tonia was just packing.

_I'm not going unprepared like I did last time._

She smirked dryly at the thought, even though it really wasn't funny. She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt something collide with her legs.

"Hey, Niina." She greeted the girl with a smile, who currently had her arms around her legs.

"Where we goin', Tai?" She asked with a huge grin. She'd recently lost two teeth eating an apple, so she had a kind of Jack-O-Lantern smile. According to Riikka, she probably couldn't get any cuter.

"We're going to Greenland, way up north." She said, pointing up to emphasize her point. "It's going to be really cold, so Sonya is going to pack your new snow gear. You start your beyblade training when we get there."

All she got as a reply was a shriek of joy before the little girl raced off to find her beyblade so she could pack it. Taylia already had a fifth Z-Strata blade already made and waiting in a case in her desk. It would be a present to her when those five months were over.

A light knocking behind her made the Russian turn around. Drayea was leaning against the door frame, her bags already packed and ready to leave for her flight early the next morning.

"Riikka tells me I take the kid last. Can I safely assume I'll be teaching her some of my country's blading techniques?"

Taylia smirked.

"What you teach her is up to you; she's your student for five weeks." She replied.

Her expression softened when she thought back to the previous day when she'd been 'interrogating' her on why she'd done what she'd done to herself.

"Look, about yesterday…" The redhead started.

Taylia stopped her with a raised hand.

"Don't apologize. You were just looking out for the team, and I don't blame you."

Silence. The two bladers' gazes moved around, almost awkward. It was actually Drayea who broke the silence.

"Just one last thing, Tai."

Taylia looked up to meet the ice-cold stare of her older teammate. She nodded to show she was listening.

"Whatever you do, be careful."

"I will."

* * *

Winter had come and gone, and that unending instinct to keep moving remained even with the threat of a cold death gone. There were still dangers out there, and the changing of the winds was all the proof anyone needed. As the four auras went their separate ways, little did they know just how much they too would change just like the winds they were known for, nor had they any clue as to what would befall them in the following months. When they returned, winter would be back and they would embark on the adventure of a lifetime. 

Not even those five months could prepare them for what awaited them nearly half a year later.

* * *

**READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES!!! IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!**

* * *

**Yurii:** _Here are some of the most interesting results; they won't appear until later!_

**Solongo/Brooklyn **

**Solongo/Ray(_Rei?_) **

**Lilja/Johnny**

**Nadriya/Johnny**

**I REPEAT!!**

_THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF **CHETIRYE VYETER!!!** The sequel **Pyeremena Vyeter (Changing Winds)**, which will be the tournament, will come out as soon as I can make the first chapter!! _

**_THANK YOU!!!! _**


	23. Sequel Update!

**Yurii:**

**_THE SEQUEL IS OUT!_**


	24. Thanks for 13,000 Hits!

**Yurii:** _Heya people! I bet you're wondering why I've posted another author's note: __Just wanting to thank you all for reading! _

**_As of recently, _Chetirye Vyeter_ got up to the 13,000-hit mark and has risen to 13,200 since!_**

**_THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!!!_**


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